


The Adventure of the Pokévengers

by AlexDion



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff and Crack, Friendship, Gen, Team Crackship, Team Dynamics, Team Feels, Team Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-12
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 01:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/681388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexDion/pseuds/AlexDion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark introduces Pokémon to Thor and Loki, with disastrous results. After a humongous tantrum and a wayward spell, the Avengers find themselves smack in the middle of the Pokémon world!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Not So Good Idea

It was supposed to be an ordinary day like any other, if you could call the day of a bunch of Superheroes to  _be_ ordinary...

Steve was supposed to be doodling in his sketchbook. Bruce was supposed to partake in a relaxing read about the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. Clint wanted to go rock-climbing and Natasha wanted to push off Clint's persistent invitations for her to join him in rock-climbing. Everything was supposed to be peaceful, and trouble-free. Well, that  _was_  until a certain genius by the name of Tony Stark decided to introduce a particular Norse God to the game Pokémon.

It has been a few months or so since Loki had led an army of aliens to invade Earth. After saving the world together and having a messy team bonding session where they chowed down at a local Shawarma place, the Avengers were now fast friends. Closer than peas in a pod! (as Tony had jovially claimed) However Phil did dryly note that peas do not attempt to strangle each other every other day.

Two weeks ago, Tony Stark had generously invited his team mates over to his Malibu mansion for a vacation, seeing as they all needed a break from the stressful world-saving they were doing. Besides, no Norse Gods of Mischief had tried to cause chaos and reign terror on Earth for three weeks in a row now (Tony had claimed full credit for that), and it was now or never for the group of heroes to go on a holiday. The genius had logically deduced that after all the shit they had been through, there was nothing he would not be able to tolerate from his friends. After all, he is the Ironman, and the Avengers are heroes. They are basically good people. Tony had conveniently forgot that saving the world and living together under one roof are totally different matters altogether. And the fact that his friends are good but not  _normal_ people didn't help either.

Due to her deep-rooted assassin instincts, Natasha Romanoff had insisted on sticking to her cautious routine of switching rooms almost every night in order to play it safe. Even after Tony had irritably pointed out that the assassin was not likely to get assassinated in his mansion, the Black Widow never nested in the same room for two consecutive nights. The billionaire soon learnt that it was  _not_ fun to walk into the wrong guestroom in the middle of night after a trip to the kitchen or washroom and find a gun pointed in your face simply because you forgot that it is supposed to be the Widow's turf tonight.

Clint Barton, being the Hawk, had a nasty little habit of climbing up and hanging around on high places. Tony lost count of the number of times he had yelled at a grinning Hawkeye to stop swinging and dangling from his expensive crystal chandelier. Really, how childish can one get?

Steve Rogers, being the man out of time and basically old enough to be Tony's dad, enjoys reminiscing about the 'good old days' with his good friend Howard's son. Tony did not appreciate that. After all, tales of jukeboxes, strikes, wars and how his father's flying automobile crashed during its first demonstration do get boring after being heard of for the 38th time. However, the playboy did find Steve's interpretation of his father's talk about 'fondue-ing' to be fairly entertaining.

Bruce, unsurprisingly, was the only one bearable in the group and Tony found himself clinging onto the man like a life-buoy in this sea of insanity. Nonetheless, there was only so much that the scientist could do for the billionaire's mental health.

And of course, none of the other Avengers could hold a candle to Thor when it came to bizarre antics. The god was basically, and literally out of this world. After answering Thor's hundredth question about how the blender is able to create such delicious creamy delicacies from a few bananas and milk, Tony decided to put a stop to this hassle once and for all by distracting the other-worldly Norse god with something even more 'other worldier'.

"What is this glorious Mon of Poké that you speak of?" A bewildered Thor asked the smirking billionaire as the Avengers lounged around on the large circular couch.

"A wonderful game!" Tony replied gleefully. "An incredibly stimulating and challenging form of entertainment! You will basically be walking around an imaginary world with imaginary monsters while you fight with other imaginary people with imaginary monsters." Thor looked completely lost while Bruce, who was sitting next to Tony, pulled the billionaire over.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bruce muttered and Tony gave one of his award winning grins.

"Of course it is!" The conceited billionaire exclaimed. "This will give Thor something else to do other than getting in my hair, and it will be an adventure for him too! Trust me, this has worked marvels in the past." Bruce shot Tony a suspicious glance at his statement, wondering what his friend meant. However, Thor, who had perked up at the word 'adventure' did not think any deeper into Tony's words. The Norse god was now practically bouncing up and down on his seat in excitement.

"Yes! Friend Stark, I believe I would like to embark on this glorious adventure you speak of!" Thor shouted excitedly and in his enthusiasm, bumped into Steve, who was sitting and sketching something by his side. The Captain shot him a dirty look and began to erase an errant pencil line from his drawing delicately. Tony clapped his hands in triumph and gave Bruce a gleeful look.

"See, I told you it would work!" Tony smirked and Bruce felt the beginning of another headache.

XXX

It was not long before all of the Avengers, including Steve who is rarely distracted from his sketchbook, were staring at a moving, smiling hologram of Pikachu.

"I didn't know that the game consoles could project holograms," Clint observed and Tony replied with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

"Oh please! You are talking about Stark technology! Nintendo may have only progressed to 3D but there is no reason for me to stoop to their level. You are looking at the Stark Gaming System, Birdy, or the Stark GS for short."

"Oh, it's not called the Starkboy Advance?" Clint teased. Tony was just opening his mouth to give a witty answer when Thor, who had been standing by the side in confusion all the time, cleared his throat loudly. All of his team mates turned to look at him and Thor gave Tony an accusing look.

"You promised me a grand adventure of fighting vicious monsters, but all you have shown me now, is this." The Thunder god glumly pointed at the cheerful, waving yellow mouse.

"Well, yeah Pointbreak. This is the monster I promised you," Tony grinned at the dumbfounded expression on Thor's face. "This," The billionaire gestured towards Pikachu, "is a Pocket monster, or more commonly known as a Pokémon." Tony stated matter-of-factly.

"This yellow furball is a monster?" Thor gaped at the hologram and Tony gave a chuckle.

"Come on big guy," Tony gave his friend a pat on the back. "Let's begin the lesson. Welcome, to the world of Pokémon."

XXX

It took an hour for Tony to explain the basic rules of the game to Thor, and Steve, who had been listening in interest by the side. Bruce, Clint and Natasha, who already knew what Pokémon is about, simply relaxed on the couch, occasionally grinning at the intense, serious looks on Thor's and Steve's face. After Thor was finally convinced that his only friends and allies in the strange, strange world of Jotho would be these bizarre creatures, the god began embarking on what Tony called 'the journey of a lifetime!'

It was no surprise to all that the Thundergod's favourite Pokémon quickly became the little electric mouse. In order to appease Thor's demands, Tony entered a special hack code he devised into the game that allowed the god to start his journey with a Pikachu. After watching Thor send the first few wild Pokémon he met in the grass 'to Valhalla' and catch his first Pidgey, the others grew bored and started to busy themselves with other activities. Clint and Natasha watched 'Constantine' while Bruce became engrossed in his thick book of Thermonuclear Physics. Tony, however, was staring at Steve, who in turn was staring at Thor's Pikachu with a mix of incredulity and aversion.

"Whatcha looking at, Cap?" Tony asked finally and Steve gave a tiny jump, jolted from his daze.

"Huh? No, no, I was just…" Steve mumbled distractedly as Thor punched the air in triumph as his 'Pikachoo' fired a strong burst of electricity at the enemy Pidgey and scored an instant KO. The god had just reached his first gym and was currently in a furious battle with its leader, Falkner. "It's just that," The Captain paused for a moment. "That creature looks a bit creepy," Steve whispered in hushed tones, fearful to incur the wrath of Thor for offending his beloved partner.

"Creepy?" Tony stared at Steve with utter incredulity, not bothering to keep his voice down at all. "Cap, that thing, is one of the cutest and most 'awwww' eliciting creatures known to mankind. Although I personally think it sucks in battles, creepy is definitely not how I would describe it." Tony finished with a wag of his finger.

"But look at its cheeks!" Steve protested. "They are so red, it's creepy! Like a clown or something. And its ears! What type of mouse has such long ears?"

"The long-eared Jerboa," Tony replied and Steve seemed about to argue again when Thor's loud shout interrupted him.

"AH HA! I DID IT!" Thor's triumphant voice boomed through the large living room, causing the rest to jolt in shock. "I won my first gym battle and achieved my first gym badge!"

Clint and Natasha were now laughing at the exuberant expression on Thor's face while Bruce had his eyes closed and was quietly counting from one to ten, trying to calm himself down after the explosive outburst from Thor.

"Nice job big guy!" Tony grinned while Steve's attention was still fixated on the jumping, smiling hologram of Pikachu next to Thor.

"Yes, Friend Stark! And once again, the mighty Thor has emerged triumphant!" Thor said proudly. "No one shall defeat me, as long as I have my trusty team of allies and Pikachoo!"

"I doubt that." A cold voice pierced the air and all eyes shot to the back of the room, where Loki stood, gazing at his brother with amusement.

"God damn it!" Clint yelled in shock as he reached for his bow and Natasha grabbed a dagger from her belt. Tony's portable suit came whizzing towards him and Steve jumped up from the couch, ready and alert. The only two people who seemed calm at this unexpected visit were Thor, who was actually stunned by his brother's appearance and Bruce, who was now counting his numbers more fervently than ever, reluctant to transform and thrash the room unless his interference was really necessary. Loki smirked and disappeared as an arrow, a dagger, and an energy blast were fired where his face was seconds ago and materialised in another corner of the room.

"Now, now! Calm down." The super villain drawled as he held his hands up. "Why all this hostility? I only came to challenge my brother to a Pokémon match." There was a moment of silence as all the Avengers stared at their enemy, confused by his words. Well, all of them, except for Tony Stark, who had the audacity to look unabashed by the situation. Finally, the truth began to dawn on each of them one by one, and Bruce was the first to turn to the billionaire with an incredulous look.

"Tony, please tell me you didn't."

"What?" Tony asked with a shrug of his shoulders. "I told you it worked marvels in the past, didn't I? Hey, you guys should thank me!" The billionaire exclaimed as the rest gazed at him with disapproving looks. "I got that melodramatic, psychotic diva out of our hair for three whole weeks!"

"Ahem," All attention turned back to the real reason for concern in the room. "If you are done with your little spat," Loki sneered, "allow me to reiterate why I am in this sorry excuse of a cottage in the first place."

"Sorry excuse?" Tony bristled in rage. Loki ignored him and turned to Thor.

"Thor, I officially challenge you to a Pokémon match." Loki declared while Thor (and the others) looked even more bewildered.

"Brother, I have no desire to battle you," Thor protested, but Loki simply shook his head in amusement.

"Then you will be defying one of the most important laws of the Pokémon world. You can't walk away from a challenger, remember?" The god smirked, pleased at himself for having cornered his brother into having a battle with him. However, Thor still seemed reluctant. "If you forfeit this battle, you forfeit your eligibility to be a real Pokémon master!" Loki smirked as he watched Thor's expression of reluctance turned into one of outrage.

"How dare you challenge my honour!" Thor bellowed in anger. Tony, sensing that something bad is going to happen, stepped up to stop him.

"No wait Thor, Loki has played this for three weeks, you just started! You can't accept his-"

"I accept your challenge!" Thor roared. Tony face palmed.

_Whoo boy!_

As Loki made the preparations to battle by linking their Stark GSs with wifi, something he had learnt to do after three weeks of research into the foreign device, Tony and Bruce slumped back onto the couch while Clint, Natasha and Steve stood by with rapt attention, ready to kill Loki at any slightest provocation. Soon, Loki and Thor were engaging in a battle, one in which Thor is epically and hopelessly outmatched.

"Told him so," Tony grumbled as Thor's level 19 Pikachu got KO'ed by Loki's level 100 Tyranitar while the Thunder god gaped in horror and Loki laughed maniacally by the side. At the end of the battle, Thor was still in disbelief at how easily he was beaten and Loki grinned from ear to ear. However, Thor soon pulled himself together and glared at Loki indignantly.

"This isn't fair!" Thor growled and Tony straightened up, thinking that a real fight is going to start soon now that Thor has clued in on Loki's con. "I challenge you to a rematch!" Or not. Tony slumped back again in disbelief while Loki chuckled at his brother's stupidity. Apparently the Thunder God has not grasped the concept of levels.

However, even the most amusing prank has its backlash. After the 4th time Loki's Tyranitar massacred Thor's Pokémon team, including his beloved Pikachu, the Thunder God lost his temper. And sanity.

Tony gave a jump of shock as Thor gave a deafening roar and reached for his Mjolnir, hammering down and taking his temper out on anything reachable around him. The Avengers scurried away from the rampaging god in fear and soon, Thor was panting in the middle of a destroyed room with an obliterated couch, smashed tea table and sparking Stark GSs. Loki, on the other hand, was crying and cradling his ruined helmet, which had one of its horns snapped off when Thor's hammer collided with it in his rage.

"Jesus, calm down Point Break, it's just a game." Tony muttered as he stared at his destroyed living room. Thor, hearing Tony's words, and having regained part of his cool after lashing out with the Mjolnir, now looked guilty as he gazed at the damage and Loki's upset expression. But before, he could apologise, Loki's expression turned from sorrow to rage.

"YOU!" The super villain shrieked as he pointed at Thor in anger. "How dare you… you destroy my helmet! You shall pay for this! You will all pay!" Loki waved maniacally at the rest of the Avengers in the room. Before anyone could do or say anything, a bright white light burst from Loki's palms and enveloped the room. Tony felt himself being thrown backwards, suit and all, before he could react and blacked out in a second.

XXX

Tony's eyes snapped open in shock and he found himself staring up at a forest canopy, with slivers of blue sky in between the leaves. As he laid still and listened to the rustling of the leaves around, feeling the slight cool breeze, he tried to remember what had happened; there seems to be a ridiculous scene where Thor smashed Loki's hat and Loki went berserk.

That's right! Loki went berserk!

Tony shot upright at the memory and gazed around in panic. Where was he? Now that he was finally alert, he noticed that the leaves of the trees were an unusual green. Now this is weird. And were grass supposed to be that colour? Blueish green? What type of flowers were those? Tony squinted a little, trying to make out the weird shape of the petals. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say. Was there supposed to be a bright yellow mouse with long ears and a lightning bolt tail standing on the ground before you as you- Wait? Is that a Pikachu?

Tony blinked his eyes in disbelief and the creature before him tilted its head with seeming curiosity. Tony gaped and reached out to prove to himself that this was nothing more than a hologram, only to withdraw his hand in haste when the scared creature released a tiny shock of electricity, stunning him.

"Oh. My. God."

Tony cursed in frustration as he nursed his hand and stared at the similarly cautious Pikachu, unsure of what to do now. This couldn't be… could it?

"Finally awake huh?"

Tony spun around to see Clint sitting a metre behind him, glaring and looking comical with a Yanma perched on his head.

"You know Stark, when you said we ought to thank you for introducing Loki to Pokémon, I thought you were kidding." Clint growled fiercely. "But now, I am considering thanking you  _properly_  for that." And all Tony could do was smile weakly as the archer cracked his knuckles.


	2. It's All About Finding the Right Partner

"So where are the others?" Tony asked as he followed Clint through the strange forest, batting away a couple of stray branches from the bushes nearby. The more they advanced and the more they saw of the blueish green flora with its Caterpies and Wurmples, the more Tony was convinced that they were screwed. And the only bit of hope he had now was that Clint and he were not alone in this.

"The hell would I know? The first and only person I saw since I woke up was you, laying there like some dead pig in your suit." Clint grumbled as he slashed away another branch with his army knife, using more force than necessary. The archer was in an extremely sour mood. Tony felt that the amount of bitterness his teammate was directing towards him was totally uncalled for, considering how he wasn't the psychopath who had casted some mambo jumbo spell and landed them here in the first place.

"AND SCRAM, WILL YOU?" Clint yelled viciously at the cheerful looking Yanma who was now buzzing around the archer's head, not the least bit fazed by the man's frustration. Hawkeye batted out harshly at the annoying Pokémon and Yanma simply dodged the strike agilely, returning to circle Clint's head in a matter of seconds. Tony gave a chuckle at his friend's irritation.

"Looks like he likes you, Birdy," Tony grinned.

"Ah shut the fuck up!" Clint retorted and Tony grinned even wider. The Yanma seemed oblivious to the intensity of the moment and chose this very second to perch on Clint's head. "GET THE HELL OFF!" Tony guffawed as Clint swung his arms over his head vigorously, succeeding in chasing Yanma off and messing his hair up in the process. However, Yanma soon returned to circling the agitated man's head. Tony wiped tears of mirth from his eyes while Clint glared at him.

"So asshole, does your suit still work?" Clint asked sarcastically after a while. Tony, who was still suppressing a snigger, flashed him an annoying grin.

"Why the question Birdy? I am afraid I can't blast this charming Yanma away for you. That would be violating the 'No Cruelty and Violence towards Pokémon' code." Tony smirked.

"Har de haha." Clint replied dryly. "Maybe I should rephrase my question, genius. Does Jarvis still work?" Tony's face grew serious after hearing Clint's words. Right. Jarvis. How could he possibly forget? The Ironman visor snapped down and Tony gazed at the weak flickering images from the inside of his helmet.

"Jarvis? Jarv… You here?" Tony muttered, desperately hoping that his AI was still present in the suit. Heck, it might be their ticket out of here!

"ZZZ- I- I am afraid- I-I b-b-barely am, Sir." Jarvis's crisp voice answered and Tony felt a flicker of hope by his butler's answer.

"Barely is enough, for now." Tony said hurriedly. From the corner of his eye, he could see Clint getting anxious, so distracted by Tony's conversation with Jarvis that he didn't even notice the Yanma perched on his head any longer. Tony couldn't fault the man. He was rather eager to get out of this place as well!

"Jarv, try to do a scan around and tell us our location." Tony ordered and watched as the screen before him flashed with flickering images.

"S-s-scans d-d-one, I am a-a-fraid this place is n-n-ot on in any of our e-e-xisting databases nor can it b-e-e located on that s-s-atelites back here Sir," Jarvis replied apologetically.

"Damn!" Tony cursed in frustration and Clint's tense shoulders drooped a little from the bad news. "Could you connect me to Pepper, Jarv? Or Fury? Or anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D! Just connect me to someone now!" Tony blurted out in desperation.

"R-r-r-ight a-w-ay, S-i-ikjkjksjdszzzzzzz-"

"Jarvis? You still there?"

Silence.

"Jarv? Jarv this isn't funny."

More silence.

"Oh god damn it!" Tony ripped off his helmet in frustration and glared at a similarly disheartened Clint, even though Jarvis's shorting out had nothing to do with the archer. "We are doomed." Tony muttered and kicked out at some twigs on the ground before walking over to a log and sinking down on it. Clint stared at his depressed friend, not even bothering to shoo away the Yanma which was happily chewing on his hair right now.

"You are not giving up so easily, are you?" Hawkeye asked in disbelief. When Tony said nothing, the man lost his temper. "Oh come on! You are Tony Stark! You are the Iron Man! You survived Afghanistan! And a nuclear bomb! You can't give up now!" Clint gazed at his friend in despair.

"Who said I was giving up?"

"What?"

"How was I supposed to think of a plan when you are making so much noise? Jeez, Birdy, get a grip of yourself!" Tony chirped as he stood up and dusted his suit. Clint glared at him.

"So you have a plan now? You'd better have, Tony," Clint grumbled as he trailed after the billionaire, who had started walking off in a random direction. After making me embarrass myself like that, you'd better have a god damned plan!

"Trust me Bird-brain!" Tony said with a not-too-convincing grin. Clint gave a scowl at his friend's flippancy and swatted at Yanma, who seemed to insist on tagging along wherever the archer went.

"Scram buggie!" Clint growled at the pesky Pokémon and turned to Tony. "So what's your plan?"

"Numero uno, find the others. Loki blasted all of us, so Capisicle and the rest must be around here somewhere." Tony replied swiftly. Clint nodded in approval. That sounds good.

"Then what's step number two?"

"Still in progress."

"YOU KIDDING ME?" Clint stopped so abruptly that Yanma bumped into the back of his head. After hissing in rage at the Pokémon, Clint turned back to glare at an amused Tony. "You said you had a plan!"

"Be patient, pal. One step at a time." Tony said soothingly. "First we find the others, then we come up with Plan Number 2." Having said that, the billionaire turned and continued striding through the forest.

Clint gave one last hiss of impatience before following Tony's lead. And in their hurry to find the others as well as think of a way out, neither Tony nor Clint heard the slight rustling of the grass behind them as they were curiously tailed by an electric yellow mouse.

XXX

"We have been circling for ages, and we haven't spotted a single person yet!" Clint complained loudly as Tony observed some yellow berries on a tree nearby. "Your plans have been nothing but flops so far, Stark! If you hadn't introduced Loki to this stupid game, we wouldn't even be in this stupid mess in the first pl-" Clint paused for a moment, staring at Tony incredulously. "Stark, what the hell are you doing?"

"Hmmm?" Tony mumbled absent-mindedly as he plucked a few berries off the tree. "Picking berries, duh! What else does it look like I'm doing?"

"You aren't thinking of eating those, are you?" Clint said warily as he stared at the suspicious berries in Tony's hands. "They might be poisono-" Tony pops a berry in his mouth. "Oh my fucking god! You ate them! I can't believe you just ate them! They are foreign unknown berries! Tony are you insane?" Clint gazed at the billionaire in horror, expecting him to drop dead any moment. However, Tony simply swallowed and made a face.

"Geez, these are sour!" Tony stuck his tongue out for a moment. "Want to try one?" He offered Clint, who was still in a state of shock from his friend's crazy antics. "What? These are Sitrus berries! They are safe. In fact, they will give you 30 HP. You should eat one, you look a bit beat." Tony grinned once more. Clint shook his head, too exasperated to talk or shout at the eccentric genius any longer. He wondered how Bruce could stand Tony all this time.

A sudden rustling drew their attention to a patch of grass and Clint instinctively reached for his bow, unaware that Yanma had landed on his sheath. Tony, on the other hand, gazed at the grass patch with interest. After a few more seconds, a Pikachu peeked out from the long grass and Tony gave a gasp as he realised that this was the very same Pikachu that had shocked him when he first arrived. Clint's grip on his bow loosened and Tony stared at the Pikachu, who gazed back at them with an innocent, curious look.

"Pika?"

"Jesus, did it… did it follow us all the way here?" Tony muttered while Clint gave an uncaring shrug. The archer had enough of all this… this shit. Stuck in a strange world with no other companion except Tony, strange berries, Pikachu stalkers and that pesky Yanma; it was a miracle the agent hadn't had a nervous breakdown yet.

After having a staring match with the wild Pikachu for a minute, Tony began to feel uncomfortable.

"Uh, so yeah little guy. Want a berry?" Tony held out a Sitrus berry as the first step of breaking the ice and Pikachu stepped out of the grass patch. The yellow mouse took a few cautious steps towards Tony and sniffed at the berry the man held out before backing away with a hint of distrust. Tony gave an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah I forgot. Pikachus tend to prefer Cheri berries." Tony joked while Pikachu continued giving him a disapproving stare. Clint gave a sceptical snort and seemed about to throw some scathing remark at Tony when a sudden roar echoed from a deeper part of the forest. Clint, Tony, Yanma and Pikachu all gave a jump of fright and Clint readied his bow while Tony anxiously tested his repulsors.

"You don't think Loki is setting his Tyranitar on us, do you?" Tony asked and Clint shrugged his shoulders grimly. As the two men and Pokémon carefully approached towards the source of the sound, another roar echoed. This time, Clint and Tony managed to catch the words in the roar as well as the rumble of thunder that followed.

"HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM THE SON OF ODIN!"

Both men paused for a moment, stunned by the voice before sharing a glance and sprinting in the direction where the shout came from.

"Told you my plan would work!" Tony panted as he struggled to keep up with Clint.

"Shut up!"

Soon, Tony and Clint stumbled into a barren patch of the forest where a few charred tree stumps were left. After taking a sharp breath and observing the damage, Tony gazed around and spotted a certain blonde Norse God brandishing the Mjolnir and shaking his fist at an Ambipom which was giggling up in a tree.

"THE MIGHTY THOR SHALL NOT BE MADE A MOCKERY OF BY THE LIKES OF YOU, YOU FOUL CREATURE!" Thor bellowed at the grinning Ambipom and seemed about to fling the Mjolnir at the errant Pokémon when Clint stopped him.

"Thor!" Clint shouted, trying to stop his friend from his rampage. Thor spun around at the sound of Clint's voice and beamed when he saw Tony and Clint.

"My friends!" The Thunder god rushed over to embrace them in a breath taking hug. "You are here as well! I thought I was alone!" Thor said happily and Tony forced a weak smile back while he tried to catch his breath. Clint, however, absent-mindedly waved away Yanma who was buzzing by his head and gazed at the Ambipom Thor had been shouting at with a frown.

"Why are you shouting at that Pokémon, Thor?" The archer asked. Thor's face darkened at the reminder of the Ambipom and the god turned to give it a withering glare.

"That creature is a thief," Thor growled with anger. "I was famished, and about to consume an apple I harvested from a nearby tree when the foul beast stole it right out of my hand." Tony took a closer look after listening to Thor's words and golly gee, there it was, a bright red apple in one of Ambipom's two hand-like tails.

"Well, you could have 'harvested' another apple from the tree instead of burning part of the forest down, right?" Tony suggested lightly but Thor gave him an offended look.

"It is a matter of honor, Tony Stark. The Son of Odin will not tolerate being stolen from." Thor declared hotly, while Clint patted Tony on the shoulder. "Although I must say that the creature is extremely swift," Thor continued grudgingly. "It managed to avoid all my earlier attacks."

"Well, Thunder does have a pretty low accuracy level. Only 70% chance of hitting." Tony said casually. Thor glared at him again.

"This is not a time for your dumb jokes Stark!" Thor growled while Tony bristled with indignation at how he was just snubbed for explaining a Pokémon fact to Thor. Clint chuckled as Thor raised his hammer once more. "I shall not rest till I give that thieving creature the punishment it deserves!"

"Thor wait!" Tony yelled out with panic in an attempt to stop the Thunder god. "At this rate you will just level the entire forest!"

"That's right, pal. Leave this to me. I will avenge your honor." Clint said assuringly to Thor with a grin as he nocked an arrow and took aim. The pause the Ambipom took to figure out what was going on was more than enough time for the archer and he released the arrow, shooting the apple straight out of the Pokémon's tail. The Ambipom gave a frightened squeak at this turn of events and escaped quickly by leaping through the trees. Thor laughed heartily and gave Clint a grateful but unrestrained pat on the back. Clint lurched forward by the sheer force but still grinned at his success. Tony however, was more interested in how the Yanma beside Clint seemed to be celebrating the archer's success by flying loops in the air; as though Clint was his trainer, or partner…

Now that's interesting.

"Pika?"

All attention turned to one of the charred stumps where the same Pikachu who had followed them now sat, staring at the trio with interest.

"Pikachoo!" Thor's eyes lit up as he took excited steps towards his beloved yellow mouse. Tony and Clint watched with amusement as Pikachu's ears straightened with alarm and his eyes widened in fright at the sight of this large human blundering towards him.

"Wait!" Thor cried out in despair as Pikachu promptly scampered away and the Thunder god watched ruefully as his favourite yellow mouse disappeared in the bushes. Realising that Pikachu did not like him, Thor sat down heavily on the stump where Pikachu once was and looked so sad that even Tony felt pity for him.

"Cheer up big guy," Tony said as he walked forwards and placed a comforting hand on the god's shoulder. "That Pikachu is wild, it's bound to get frightened if you charge at it like some bull." Thor's shoulders slumped down even further. Okay, that's not helping. "Look on the bright side, seeing how we are most likely in the Pokémon world now, there are bound to be plenty of other Pikachus around!"

"Yeah," Clint added as he walked towards his friends. "Besides, you won't want a Pokémon that badly after a while. You would get tired of them following you around… You just can't get rid of them!" He grumbled as he tried once again in vain to shoo Yanma away.

However, Thor was still inconsolable, and just when Clint and Tony were wondering what to do with him, a slight rustling of the grass was heard. Pikachu's head popped out once again and tilted in curiosity as he gazed at Thor's sad expression. As the men stared at the Pokémon in surprise, the yellow mouse leapt out of the grass and approached them once more, just slightly more daring this time. He started sniffing at Thor's feet and the god smiled at the sight of the mouse, afraid to make any sudden movements in case he scared it off again. After two minutes, Pikachu seemed to have finished his assessment of Thor, and to the god's delight and Tony's disbelief, leapt up onto Thor's lap happily.

"No shit, Shakespeare, it approves of you!" Tony exclaimed. "Hell, strike that, it actually likes you! They said the only way to catch Pokémon was via Pokéballs… who knew that you could do the same simply by acting big, sad and dumb huh?" Thor was too busy patting his beloved Pikachu to care about what Tony said and judging from the way Pikachu nuzzled his head under the god's hand, it really did like him! Thor looked like he was about to cry from joy and Clint seemed moved by the scene.

"See that huh?" The archer turned to Yanma, who was buzzing next to his head. "Why can't you be endearing that way instead of irritating the hell out of me?" Yanma replied with a cheerful buzz and perched himself on Clint's head once more, nuzzling his head into Clint's hair and ignoring the man's protests.

"Looks like that's the most amount of affection you are going to get Birdy," Tony chuckled as he gazed at Clint with amusement, not missing the twitching up of the sides of the assassin's lips despite his best efforts to give a scowl.


	3. Two Plus Three Makes Five

Bruce rubbed his eyes drearily and gazed once more at the flock of wild Pidgeys before him. Pidgeys.

Alright, calm down Bruce Banner, things may not be as bad as they seem.

Bruce attempted to relax by inhaling a deep breath but a not-so-nice curse word escaped his lips, bringing with it a surge of frustration and exasperation within the man.

Who was I trying to kid? This is god damn fucking bad!

Bruce could start to feel a vein throbbing in his neck and he didn't even need to look into a mirror to know that it's green. The scientist clenched his fists tightly and resisted his inner urge to transform and smash the hell out of this place. As much as he wanted to vent out all his anger and frustration now, Bruce's logical mind told him that he had to resist, that this might be one of Loki's tricks to lure the Hulk out into doing damage. The man closed his eyes and started employing one of the special breathing techniques he had learnt during his time in Brazil, and soon, he was calm enough to open his eyes and observe his surroundings more carefully.

This time, the scientist managed to spot a couple of Weedles up in the trees along with the flock of Pidgeys before him.

Bruce cursed again. He knew it was a bad idea to introduce Loki to Pokémon.

The man's mind was in a whir now. The total absurdity of the situation has messed up his usual train of logical thought. Bruce was out of his comfort zone of astronuclear physics and gamma radiation theory now, and that was bad. Really bad.

The man rubbed his temples tiredly, forcing himself to focus on one thing that would possibly never change regardless of the situation: the facts. Well, at least he hoped that they would never change. With this probably being an illusion conjured up by a bag full of cats that was Loki's brain, you will never know. Bruce pushed this daunting thought to the back of his head and tried to focus again. Ok. Loki. Pokémon. Illusion.

Firstly Loki had to have some basic knowledge of something to create an illusion of it. And apparently Loki had attained his knowledge of Pokémon from the genius Tony Stark himself. Bruce cursed at Tony silently at this thought before getting back on track. Since Tony introduced Thor to the Heart Gold/ Soul Silver version of the game instead all the other variations, Bruce shall make a hopeful inference that Tony did the same to Loki. At least that will narrow some things down. That's if Tony had not made amendments to Loki's game as he had to Thor's. And if Loki had not, in his three weeks of absence, already done more research into Pokémon himself.

Bruce groaned at the thought. This is getting nowhere. Perhaps he should stop trying to figure out the theory behind this madness and escape from the madness first. After his world was sane and logical again, the scientist could then discuss this bizarreness with Tony over a cup of coffee. A sudden realization popped up in the man's head at this thought. Maybe, just maybe, Bruce was not alone in this. The blast had hit all of the Avengers earlier, after all, and there is a high probability that the rest were in the same situation that he is in right now, wandering around here somewhere. Perhaps he should start trying to find the-

A sudden tug on his trousers drew Bruce away from his train of thoughts. The man promptly realized that someone, or rather something, was attempting to reach into his pants' pocket and out of both self-defence and shock, jerked and moved away from the strange creature.

"Mankey?" The Pokémon's eyes flashed with surprise and just a hint of frustration that its attempt at scourging for food had been thwarted.

Bruce stared cautiously at the beige ball of fur that had attempted to pickpocket him seconds ago. What is it called again? A Mankey? Bruce's body tensed at the recognition of this particular Pokémon. The scientist may not be a big fan of Pokémon like Tony was, but he did watch some episodes of the anime in the past. And if his memory serves him correctly, this pig monkey Pokémon was dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Any slight provocation of it may lead to disastrous results. Not that Bruce was afraid of his own safety or anything; he could always hulk out if there was danger to protect himself. But there would be the question of who would be the danger then, and the man wasn't exactly eager to find the answer.

"Alright little guy," Bruce tried to speak calmly to the Mankey, forcing on the kindest smile he could manage. Hopefully this Mankey isn't a temperamental one. "Look, I won't pursue the fact that you have just tried to pick my pocket, nor will I attack you. So there is no need for any hostilities between us. I will just go my way," Bruce backed away with a smile, "and you may leave on your own merry journey now."

The Mankey simply gave him a blank look and Bruce chuckled nervously.

"You don't know a single thing about what I am talking about, do you?" The man asked the Pokémon. "I thought you were supposed to understand human language. Well, you did, you know? In the anime and movies?" Bruce continued lamely, more to himself than the Mankey now. He gave a sigh, suddenly realizing how stupid he must sound.

"Alright, look here." Bruce said, deciding to try to different approach. "If you attack me," He pointed to the Pokemon before gesturing to himself. "The big guy will come out," Bruce spread his arms to symbolize big, "And he will smash. And things will get bad." He emphasized the 'bad ' by hitting his right hand into his left palm.

Maybe that did the trick?

Bruce observed Mankey carefully, hoping that the Pokémon would leave peacefully now. However, it did not seem to be leaving any time soon. Instead, it looked more impatient than anything else. Bruce gave an exasperated sigh. Well, if the Mankey wouldn't leave, then Bruce guessed he would have to instead. The scientist was about to turn and leave when the Mankey gave a sharp shriek at his movement and pounced at the stunned man. Bruce gave a yell of shock and stumbled backwards, crashing into a tree with the Mankey clinging onto him, wincing at the impact. His heart started beating at a dangerously fast rate and the man started panting, drained from the effort of keeping the Hulk under control. No. No! Bruce grimaced at the pressure, unsure of how much longer he could hold on if the Mankey decided to continue attacking him aggressively. Right now, he didn't seem to be hurting though.

"Man-Mankey! Hee hee!"

Now that wasn't expected. The scientist had thought that the Mankey would claw him, start biting him, or even punch him, but he hadn't even anticipated that the Pokémon would giggle. Bruce glanced down at the Mankey in confusion and his brows rose in surprise at what he saw. The Mankey was now clinging onto his right leg with both its legs and reaching into his right pocket with its right hand. With one swift movement, the Pokémon pulled something out of Bruce's pocket and leapt off the man, jumping about in glee. Bruce gaped at the happy looking Mankey, stunned by this turn of events. All this hassle, for a packet of dried raisins?

The Mankey ripped the already open plastic packaging and grabbed a handful of raisins from the new hole it had created, popping them into its mouth with joy. The Pokémon then gave another joyful cry and bounced over to sit on a rock not far from Bruce, oblivious to the man's incredulous stare and enjoying its meal. So what the Mankey wanted all along was the raisins he had in his pocket. Bruce watched quietly as the Pokémon ate for a moment before shaking his head with a chuckle of amusement. Who knew that the pig-like monkey would enjoy the same snack food that Bruce liked? He reached into his pocket and pulled out another packet of raisins, one that is unopened this time and walked over to Mankey, who stiffened and eyed him suspiciously as he approached, fearing that the man would snatch its precious food away. Bruce gave it a warm smile and held the new packet of raisins out to the Pokémon.

"Here, you can have this packet as well, little guy."

The Mankey sniffed the packet cautiously at first before realising what it was in a second and its face split into a huge grin. It popped the rest of the raisins from the old packet into its mouth and grabbed the new one, ripping it open instantly. Bruce laughed as he watched the blissful look on Mankey's face as it ate and halfway through the packet, it seemed to notice his presence again. The Mankey paused for a moment, first gazing at Bruce and then at the packet of raisins before carefully picking out one raisin and offering it to the man. A wide grin of amusement spread across Bruce's face as he took the raisin from the Pokémon graciously.

"Why thank you. It's nice of you to share." Bruce chuckled and the Mankey gave him another gleeful smile before chowing down the rest of the raisins.

XXX

Bruce swept aside a low branch as he made his way through a narrow path. It has been two hours, and he was not any closer to finding a way out of this forest, not to mention this world. The scientist was getting more and more tired by the minute, and a dangerous well of frustration was already building inside of him. Bruce had been unable to find any of his team mates as well, and he was starting to wonder if he was the only one Loki had transported into this world, or illusion. On a brighter note, he was no longer alone. The Mankey was now clinging around his neck as he made his way through the forest, ruffling his hair playfully every now and then. Apparently, the Pokémon had gotten fond of him after he had shared his raisins with it and had decided to tag along with him where ever he went. Despite the knowledge that Mankey was probably following him around in the hopes for more food in the future, Bruce couldn't help but feel grateful at the companionship it provided him with.

After reaching the end of the narrow stretch of path and coming face to face with more trees and bushes, Bruce finally gave an exasperated sigh and plopped down onto a fallen log, too tired to walk any further. The Mankey leapt down from his neck and did a cheerful jig in front of the man, its face bright and gleeful. Bruce chuckled at the comical sight, feeling his moods being lifted in spite of the seemingly hopeless situation he was in.

"Yeah, I know you are not tired," he told the Mankey jokingly. "After all, I had been carrying you around my neck the whole time." Bruce gave Mankey a good natured rub on the head and the Pokémon responded with a ruffle of the scientist's hair with its own hands as well. The man grinned at Mankey's actions and his mind had just drifted from his troubles to wondering if this was how actual Pokémon trainers would feel like when a sudden howl of pain echoed from a deeper part of the forest. The man jolted up in shock and Mankey leapt up onto his head again, its eyes shifting from its usual carefree look to an alert glare. Bruce turned to gaze at the direction which the howl came from and gulped nervously.

"Shall we investigate that?" He asked the Mankey, not taking his eyes away from the direction of the source. Mankey replied with a firmer grip on Bruce's shoulders and the man took it to be a yes. He started to approach the source of the noise cautiously and shivered even more anxiously when he felt the fur of the Pokémon on his shoulder prickling up defensively. When they reached a clearing in the forest, a sudden bright colour of black and red dashed past the duo and Bruce almost tripped backwards in shock. Mankey let out a loud screech and jumped off the man, who was now desperately using the breathing techniques he was familiar with to calm himself down. The Houndoom which had shocked them disappeared into the bushes, letting out one last howl of pain as it did so. Bruce hardly had time to stare after the fleeing Pokémon in bewilderment before a familiar voice caught his attention.

"You alright?"

Bruce spun around sharply and gaped at the sight of the red-headed assassin before him.

"Oh my god! Natasha!"

The Black Widow smiled and Bruce's attention shifted to from his friend to the little blur of orange that popped out from behind her legs.

"Is that a-?" Bruce stared in surprise at the little orange chick that peeked out timidly at him. Natasha followed the man's gaze and glanced down at the Torchic that was hiding behind her.

"A Torchic." The assassin confirmed with a curt nod. "I saved this little fellow from the Houndoom that was terrorising it earlier. I hate bullies." Natasha finished grimly. Bruce gaped at the woman, awed that she had actually managed to take down a full grown Houndoom and chase it away with her bare hands. Suddenly, the man was filled with a new found respect for the assassin. The Black Widow was definitely much above angry bees on the danger scale, no doubt about that.

Torchic, after realising that the immediate threat of Houndoom was no longer present, regained its confidence and came out from behind Natasha's legs. It hopped over to the area of grass where the Houndoom had escaped into and issued warning chirps into the grass.

"Talk about late bravados." Natasha lifted her brows sceptically at the Pokémon's antics and the Torchic scurried back to its saviour, flashing a bright grin at the woman as it did so. Natasha gave an exasperated smile at the Pokémon's cute soppy face and turned back to Bruce, who was watching the exchange with interest. Mankey on the other hand, went forward to sniff at Torchic, who edged away from the pig-like monkey. Mankey gave a cynical snort at the chick's outward nervousness and gave the Pokémon a shove, causing Torchic to fall flat on its back.

"So, do you have any idea where the others are? Or if they are even here at all?" Natasha asked, ignoring the angry chirps from the Torchic as it jumped back up and chided the laughing Mankey in rage. Bruce shook his head. The scientist was just opening his mouth to answer when they heard a sudden crackle of thunder in the distance. Bruce and Natasha turned and saw a sudden flash of lightning strike down on an area of the forest and almost immediately, exchanged knowing looks.

"Thor." The scientist and the assassin muttered simultaneously and both of them started to move in the direction where they saw the lightning.

After realising that its friend was leaving, Mankey gave a final snort of contempt at the furious Torchic before chasing after Bruce and leaping on the man's shoulders. Torchic suddenly realised that the group was going off without it, and gave a panicked yelp before scurrying after Natasha, not wanting to be left behind by its idol.

XXX

(Meanwhile…)

"So what do we do now genius?" Clint asked Tony sceptically as the billionaire fiddled about with parts of his suit idly. Tony was just reconnecting some wires in his right gauntlet, having taken that part off while keeping the rest of his suit on. After all, they were still unsure of what dangers may lurk in the depths of this forest, or what Loki may set on them any minute and Tony wanted to play safe. The billionaire looked up at the archer's question and became distracted the very next second when a laughing Thor ran past him, chasing his Pikachu in a game of tag.

"Stark."

"Huh? Yea?" Tony mumbled distractedly as he stared at the bumbling Norse God in amusement. Clint hissed in frustration and strode forward, grabbing Tony by both shoulders. The billionaire's attention snapped back to him immediately.

"What do you plan on doing next?" Clint growled, and Tony noted that Clint could be rather intimidating when he was angry, even with a Yanma perched on his head.

"Well, find the rest," Tony said casually, loosening himself from his friend's grip. He placed the gauntlet back on his arm, testing it out and pleased when it worked perfectly.

"And? What next?" Clint asked testily. The archer was now reaching the end of his patience with Stark, and the conceited man seemed have realised that, although he made no show of noticing it.

"Then we put our brains together and come up with a plan to kick Loki's ass." Tony replied uncaringly.

"Which means you don't have plan."

"Nope."

"You said you would think of one!"

"Well I don't see how the pressure of thinking of a plan should lie solely on my shoulders! Why don't YOU think of one, Bird brain?"

Clint cursed so loudly at this point of the argument that Yanma flew off his head in shock and Thor and Pikachu actually stopped their game to see what's wrong. Both Tony and Clint were now glaring furiously at each other and who knows what may have happened next if a voice hadn't stopped them.

"Language, Barton, language." Everyone turned to look at Natasha, who was wearing an amused grin on her face. Bruce stood behind her, giving a weary smile at his friends. And it didn't take long for the rest to notice the Mankey on Bruce's head or the Torchic beside Natasha.

"Wow, where did you guys come from?" Tony asked with a chuckle. "Been taking Loki lessons lately?" Thor perked up at the mention of his brother's name.

"I don't think you are qualified to address my language problem, Nat, considering how yours is a lot more colourful than mine. Especially when it comes to matters of Stark." Clint grumbled, ignoring Tony's quip. Natasha gave a tiny laugh at her friend's moody expression.

"Point taken." She smiled. "And nice hat, by the way." The assassin added with a smirk. Clint made an exasperated sound at the comment and waved Yanma off his head, not wanting to attract any more ridicule from his friend.

"My friends!" Thor boomed as he made his way to the group, along with Pikachu in tow. "It's nice to see you again!"

"It's great to see you too Thor," Bruce grinned at the god's enthusiasm. "And I see you have gotten yourself a Pikachu. Congrats!" The scientist smiled.

"Yes, my friend! Pikachoo here is a most wonderful companion, and I must congratulate you and Lady Natasha for having acquired Pokémon companions of your own as well!" Thor boomed grandly, gesturing to Mankey and Torchic.

"It's Natasha, Thor. Just Natasha." Natasha corrected the god. "And Torchic isn't my companion, I just happened to save it from a wild Houndoom." Torchic gave a little chirp at this and snuggled even closer to the assassin's calf.

"Right, Agent Romanoff, I can see that the Torchic isn't attached to you at all. Not one bit." Tony smirked as Natasha shot him a glare. "Torchic fits you though, Romanoff. You may be tough and mean on the outside, but really, you are soft and fluffy on the inside."

"Anthony Stark." Natasha said warningly.

Torchic seemed to realise that the woman was angry with the red and golden suited man, and it became angry at the strange man for infuriating its idol as well. Everyone watched as the little orange chick strutted up to Tony and made a few unsuccessful kicks at the right leg of the armour, almost losing its balance and falling over during one of the kicks.

"Hey watch it tough guy, you are going to scratch the armour." Tony smirked with amusement as Natasha rolled her eyes with exasperation.

"Where did it learn that from?" Clint asked curiously while Thor let out a mighty guffaw and commented on how cute the little chicken was. Bruce, however, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Natasha, you said you saved Torchic from the Houndoom earlier, didn't you? Well, what did you do to drive it away?" The scientist asked. Natasha frowned at the question.

"I just gave it a few kicks to the nose." She replied matter-of-factly and Clint winced. He knew how painful Natasha's kicks could be. "Bullies are usually cowards. They run away as soon as they are afraid."

"I see." Bruce muttered and Tony seemed to catch on to his friend's implication.

"Well, it looks like you have a fan, Natasha!" Tony grinned at the puzzled assassin. "Bruce Lee here aspires to master the art of kicking as well as you have and I must say, it is catching up really cutely."

"You haven't forgotten what Torchic evolves into, have you?" Bruce reminded Tony and the billionaire's grin grew even wider.

"Of course not!" Tony replied gleefully. "A Blazikien, the kicking king, or queen. Just like its owner, a real hot chick!" Tony waggled his eyebrows suggestively and the very next second, was forced to duck as a real kick was aimed at his face.

"Watch it, Stark." Natasha growled furiously and Clint chuckled at the sight of the woman's infuriation. And she had just mocked him for losing his temper at Tony minutes along.

"Guys, maybe we should find a way out of here before we kill each other?" Bruce said dryly. "Or Tony." The scientist added with his usual subtle hint of sarcastic humour and Tony stared at his friend with bemusement.

"Now, Brucie, let's not be mean." Tony wagged his finger disapprovingly. "By the way, I haven't congratulated you for finding a miniature Hulk as your Poképartner. Hey there little guy!" The billionaire waved cheerfully at Mankey who still had its arms wrapped around Bruce's neck. "Except that he is not green of course. Beige's a nice colour though. Goes nicely with green." Tony added with a smirk.

"Thanks Tony, I guess." Bruce muttered with an exasperated smile.

"So how did Mankey become your partner? We all know that Romanoff here impressed little Torchic with her awesome kungfu skills, but we know nothing about you and Mankey." Tony said.

"I gave him some raisins." Bruce smiled shyly as the rest appeared stunned by his answer.

"Raisins." Tony repeated sceptically. "Remind me again why you would have some raisins on you."

"Well, I always keep a packet or two of dried raisins with me." Bruce shrugged. "I like them. They are healthy and they help me think."

"Oh god! So that's where all the raisins in the mansion disappeared to!" Tony groaned. "Pepper was complaining about not being able to find the raisins to bake her croissants the other day. Man! I always thought that Thor was a Pop-tart monster, but I had no idea you were such a raisin monster as well!" Bruce gave an embarrassed smile while Clint cleared his throat with impatience at all the chatter. The archer was tired of chit-chat. He just wanted to gather everyone back and find a way out of this place, back to his normal world where he could live his normal life with all his normal friends!

"Isn't it about time we started discussing a way out of here?" Clint grumbled. Natasha nodded her head at this statement.

"Indeed, my friends, I believe we will have to search for a way out of this labyrinth my brother has trapped us in soon." Thor said, waving his hands and gesturing the forest around them. Who knows what may happen if we do not." The rest of the Avengers nodded in silent agreement and each lapsed into a deep thought about how to escape from this world. Bruce was the first one to break the silence.

"Yeah, well, as much as I would love to come up with a plan to escape, I believe we should stop and think about the plan later. There's still one person missing." The scientist reminded everyone gently.

"Thanks for the reminder. I hadn't noticed how quiet and peaceful it had been around here without any incessant nagging going on." Tony replied casually and Clint chuckled at Tony's words. Thor had aconfused expression on his face for a moment before looking around and giving a dramatic gasp.

"My friends, the good Captain is still missing!"

"Oh my, Thor, whatever gave you that idea?" Tony retorted sarcastically as the rest grinned at Thor's anxious face.

Yes, where is the good Captain?


	4. United At Last

"Guys? Anyone?" Steve Rogers wandered around the forest aimlessly, desperately searching for his teammates, or rather, any sign of human life.

It has been almost 3 hours since the Captain had woken up from Loki's attack, alone and confused in this bizarre forest. After a few seconds of gaping at his surroundings and a disturbing encounter with a horned worm-like creature which called him a "weedle" -whatever that was-, Steve decided to start looking around for the rest of the Avengers and a way  _out_. He had miraculously managed to find his shield laying a few metres from where he had woken. However, after circling around the damned forest for hours and not seeing a single sign of human civilisation, the man was starting to tire despite the superhuman serum running in his veins. Along the way Steve had spotted many more horned, yellow worms and green caterpillars with oversized glassy eyes, and now he was having a hard time convincing himself that it was simply due to the world having become a stranger place since the time he knew it.

Something was seriously wrong with this forest.

Steve bit his lip nervously as he glanced around once more. It wasn't as though he had not spotted the unusual shade of bluish green grass or the strange shape of the leaves on the trees. Neither had he missed out on the bizarre creatures that inhabited this particular forest. A part of his mind had screamed out at the oddity of this place and the Captain had never felt as insecure as he did now, even when he had woken up after 70 years to a future world. At least there were people around to explain what had happened to him then. Now there was no one. And he had no idea of what was going on at all. If Steve didn't know better, he would have said that he was now in an entirely different world from Earth right now. Well, maybe he was.

"Kroo!"

The Captain's attention turned towards the source of the noise and his eyes widened when he saw what it was. The small white and brown bird cocked its head sideways as it regarded the man before flapping its wings and taking off, leaving Steve behind with his jaws dropped.

 _Wait! That's- that's-_ Steve's mind struggled to recall the correct term… no, name for the tiny bird that he had seen hours ago in Thor's game.  _What was it? Pigeon? Pidwig? Pidgey!_

A Pidgey.

Steve's heart beat furiously against his chest as he tried to incorporate this bit of information to the already big mess of knowledge he had about the place. It can't be… What was it called again? Pokey-mon? Poki-monsters? Something like that? Steve groaned. Things had just gotten from strange to horrible, freaky- whatever modern day term could be used to describe it-, and the man didn't know what on Earth he should do now.

 _Except that you are probably not on Earth anymore_ , a sensible little voice in Steve's head told him and the super soldier grimaced.  _Didn't Tony say that these things were fictional? Imaginary._

Steve jolted a little at this thought. The last time he checked, 'imaginary' had the same meaning now as the past: unreal. If this was all unreal, then it means that something was wrong with the situation. Someone was likely to be playing a trick on him. And Steve had a pretty good idea who that someone might be. The only thing he wasn't sure of was if life-like simulations were invented yet, but hey, if it's Tony, who knows?

"Tony?" Steve called out in no particular direction. "Is this a prank? Hey! Are you guys out there somewhere?" The man asked hopefully. He wouldn't put it past him that Tony, Clint, Natasha and maybe even Bruce were probably hiding in a control room somewhere now, giggling and enjoying themselves at the sight of his misery. It all makes sense somehow. Placing their friends in a simulation controlled room and watching them wander around helplessly was definitely something Tony and Clint would have conjured up for their own amusement. In fact, after the time those two had set Thor off on a raging battle against Pepper's treadmill, Steve had removed all mental limits he had on how far those two would go for a practical joke.

"Guys, this is not funny anymore. Okay?" Steve said bemusedly as he gazed around. "Anyone there?" After another few minutes of silence, broken only by the rustling of the surrounding leaves, the Captain finally realised that maybe this was not a prank by his teammates after all. The man let out a huff and stood up once more, taking in his environment more carefully now. Even if the situation looks bad, he sure as hell wasn't going to give up now. He hadn't given up 70 years back in all those alleyways in Brooklyn or in the war with Red Skull. He hadn't given up when he woke up 70 years later and took an alien army head on with his team.

 _Always a way out._  Steve told himself.  _Always a way out._

"Ral~" A soft tinkling voice interrupted his thoughts and Steve gazed down to find a small, girl-like creature staring up at him. Or at least, he thinks it is staring up at him. The creature, too tiny to be an actual human girl, was wearing a pure white dress with an oversized green and red cap which covered half of its face, including its eyes. Steve could see its mouth, but that was it.

"Umm…" Steve said uneasily, clueless about what to do in this situation. He remembered Tony saying that these Pokey-mon had strange powers and could be extremely dangerous when hostile, however, this particular tiny thing seemed too sweet to be harmful.

"Ral~" The tiny creature said in its soft voice once more and the Captain felt his heart melting at the sheer cuteness of this creature.

"Hi little guy… er- girl?" Steve fumbled over his words as he crouched down to the level of the tiny creature and placed his shield down beside him, wearing a friendly smile. The girl-like creature seemed to be gazing at him curiously and the super soldier wondered how he could tell that it was curious even when he could not see the creature's eyes. The Captain shrugged away that insignificant thought and reached one hand out to the 'little girl'. The creature seemed alarmed by his movement though, and backed a step away.

"Oh! I'm not going to harm you!" Steve said hurriedly as he withdrew his hand. In fact, the 'little girl' seemed so fragile that he was scared it would break if he petted it with too much force.

After gauging the man's face for a moment and deciding that it was probably safe, the tiny creature moved closer to him again, this time only flinching a little when Steve reached out shyly once more and touched it gently on its 'hat'. The Captain smiled when the tiny girl-like creature seemed to become braver after his touch and came closer towards him, even placing its tiny hand on his arm as it did so. He decided to ignore the fact that it had no fingers.

"Umm, so…" Steve wondered what to do next as he gazed at the tiny Pokey-mon before him. It looked so ridiculously like a tiny child that he could not imagine it as a monster. "What's your name?" He asked tenderly before feeling self-conscious about the fact that he just spoke to a creature who probably didn't understand him. The Captain could already imagine Tony laughing at him for doing so now.

"Ral?" The creature asked as it tilted its head to one side, and Steve could not help but forget all earlier embarrassment as he smiled sappily at the creature's cuteness. It looked so innocent, so child-like, and Steve suddenly felt a sense of protectiveness for this small vulnerable being.

"So… are you alone?" Steve asked gently, even though he wasn't sure if the creature could give him an answer. "Where are your parents?" He continued before pausing slightly. Such a tiny child-like creature had to have parents, right? Steve frowned at the idea of this little creature being an orphan and felt a sudden pang of sadness as he recalled memories of the past. He knew what it was like to have no parents.

"Ra!" The super soldier's attention turned back to the Pokey-mon and he was startled to see that the creature seemed to be backing away from him nervously again.

"Hey! Did I scare you or something?" Steve called out anxiously but the 'little girl' did not reply. It simply disappeared into a tall patch of grass, leaving the man behind, stunned and confused. When the Pokémon did not appear after a few minutes, Steve shook his head and stood up, deducing that his frown may have scared the little thing off. It seemed the only plausible explanation after all, and he had thought that they were getting along pretty well. The Captain gave a sad smile. This was a first. No one had told him that he looked frightening before.

The man straightened up and picked up his shield. This was no time to be moping around; he still had to find his friends and a way out of this forest.

_I wonder if that little girl would be safe though._

Steve stared at the patch of grass the creature had disappeared into once more before shaking his head. He was probably thinking too much. If Pokey-mon were as powerful as Tony had claimed he had no reason to worry about that little girl. After all, she had probably lived in this forest for a-

A sudden sharp shriek jerked Steve out of his thoughts and before he even knew it, he found himself sprinting in the direction where the tiny girl had left. Something was wrong. It was in trouble. Steve did not know how he knew, but he just did. Another terrified sounding shriek was heard and before long, the soldier spotted the tiny creature again, shivering and backed up against a tree while another menacing red, black and silver creature was advancing on it, its dagger sharp arms gleaming in the sunlight. Without thinking, Steve flung his shield at the other creature, catching it by surprise and hitting it dead centre. The force of the shield flung the red and silver Pokémon back a few metres and it crashed into a rock before collapsing on the ground, stirring feebly.

"Hey, are you alright?" Steve asked as he rushed over to the tiny girl's side, scooping it into his arms protectively. The tiny Pokémon seemed shaken and emitted made some soft noises as it cuddled closer to the man's body. Steve was so engrossed in comforting the little Pokémon in his arms that he did not notice the other red and obviously more threatening Pokémon rising up behind him.

Bad mistake.

With a fierce growl, the creature leapt at the duo with its dagger like arms poised to strike. Steve saw the incoming threat seconds too late and in his rush to protect the helpless creature in his arms, turned and used his body as a shield, giving out a pained cry as the sharp arms of the creature sank into his shoulder, drawing blood. The super soldier used his uninjured arm to knock the creature off and winced at the pain as he turned around to face the vicious monster.

"Pawniard!" The creature barked, and Steve could have sworn that it was sneering at him.

XXX

"I swear Cappie has this secret fetish of letting people search for him." Tony complained as the team of Avengers minus one Captain America hiked across the forest, searching for their missing team leader. The others ignored the billionaire's rant. It had been a long day for all of them. The long fruitless search for Steve had everyone running on a short fuse right now and no one was in the mood to listen to Tony Stark any longer.

"Alright guys, let's take a break." Bruce conceded at last. Even Mankey, who had been clinging onto his neck all this while, was getting restless and had resorted to endlessly ruffling the scientist's hair to get its point across. Clint gave a frustrated sigh and sank down heavily on fallen log nearby, shooing Yanma away from him out of pure spite. However, the bug Pokémon simply buzzed around in the air for a moment before landing on the archer's head again.

"Just let him be, my friend!" Thor boomed grandly as he watched an irritated Clint shoo Yanma away again and again, unsuccessful each time. "Why can't you get along with your little Yimma like Pikachoo and I?" The god gave the yellow mouse beside him another pat on the head and Pikachu beamed happily, leaping up onto its partner's head.

"It's Yanma, Thor. And it's annoying." Clint mumbled unhappily, finally giving up and lending out his head as a perch for the Pokémon, too tired to shoo it away any longer. Tony sniggered at the scene, although he was impressed that Clint had even bothered correcting Thor on the Pokémon's name. Looks like Hawkeye was resigned to the fact his 'partner' Pokémon would be sticking with him for a while.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Bruce asked suddenly and all attention turned towards Natasha, who was now carving something on the trunk of a nearby tree with one of her many daggers.

"Aw, you are not leaving a carving of how 'The Avengers were here' on that tree are you?" Tony smirked. "Sentimental. But remember to leave out Capsicle in your engraving; he is certainly not here yet." Natasha shot Tony a withering glare and returned her attention to whatever she had been doing on the tree. After a few seconds, the others saw an 'x' and a tiny arrow on the trunk and Clint gave a low whistle.

"Smart."

Natasha smiled at the praise.

"Thank you Barton." The assassin finished the carving and returned to the group, ignoring the noisy chirps of the Torchic trailing behind her. "I have been leaving these crosses and arrows on the trees we have passed." Natasha explained.

"So we will know which path we took and not end up in aimless circles." Bruce continued in awe while Tony gave a little pout. Why hadn't  _he_ thought of that?

"Yes," Natasha nodded and sat down on the log next to Clint. Torchic chirped and tried unsuccessfully to jump up onto Natasha's lap. "We have covered a good deal of distance now, it's essential to make sure that we do not end up retracing our steps unknowingly." The assassin said seriously, casting an unimpressed glance sideways at the noisy orange chick next to her. Clint chuckled as Torchic's head feathers drooped at the coldness of the assassin's attitude towards it. The archer knew that it was never easy to break the ice with Natasha involved.

"Yes, I am sure it would not be long before we find the good Captain," Thor said cheerily and Pikachu on his head voiced its agreement as well.

"Yeah, with any luck we will probably find him another 70 years later," Tony snorted and then bristled with indignation when once again, everyone ignored him. Bruce pulled out another packet of raisins from god-knows-where and started sharing it with Mankey while Thor started a mini wrestling match with Pikachu. Clint rested his eyes with Yanma still buzzing on his head; Tony suspected he was using it as a method of sleep hypnosis. Natasha, on the other hand, had begun to pay Torchic some attention as the little orange feather puff had finally seemed to get on the assassin's nerves. However, before she could tell the little chicken off for being too noisy, the woman froze and stiffened as she gazed into a specific direction in the forest. Tony was the first to notice her unease.

"What is it Nat? Cat-like instincts sense some faraway threat again?" The billionaire joked. However, Natasha remained tense. "Let me guess, you smelled Loki 50 miles away?" Tony continued with a smirk.

"Shut up Stark." Natasha's tone was serious, no doubt about it.

"Nat, what-?" Bruce asked anxiously but Natasha ignored his question. She turned and gave Clint an urgent shake, waking the archer with a shock.

"Huh! Wha- what!" Clint jumped up and readied his bow, expecting an attack before realising no immediate threat was available.

"Barton, calm down and listen." Natasha hissed. Clint frowned and stood still, listening attentively for a moment and became more confused. All he could hear was some buzzing noise. Buzzing?

"Oi! Clam it, will you?" Clint yelled in frustration and waved Yanma off his head. Bugs be damned. Looking abashed at the glare Natasha gave him, the archer quieted down and concentrated before a look of surprise appeared on his face. Tony frowned at the looks of comprehension on both assassins' faces as they exchanged glances and tried his hardest to listen to whatever noise there was supposed to be as well. But, he heard nothing. Apparently S.H.I.E.L.D trained their agents to have supersonic ears.

"So, care to share the secret?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"There are sounds of a fight in the distance." Natasha said grimly.

"Hate to break it to you, but we are in Pokéworld now. It might just be a wild Pokémon scuffle." Tony shrugged. Clint shook his head.

"It sounded like someone was hitting something repeatedly… on a shield."

XXX

Steve panted with exhaustion as the red and silver creature continued its flurry of attacks on his shield. They had been fighting for a while now and the Captain had found the creature to be exceptionally agile and strong. The man's uniform now had several gashes and cuts on it, and some of them were stained red.

Behind him, the tiny girl-like creature whimpered out of fear at the battle proceeding before it. Steve had ordered it to flee long ago when he took on the other monster, but the tiny creature seemed to have insisted on sticking around rather than leave the man behind. Steve grimaced. This wasn't good. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out and the tiny creature will surely be in danger then.

The super soldier took advantage of a sudden break in the red creature's attacks and swung out with his shield, knocking it back a few steps. He then followed up with another swing of the shield and sent the creature crashing into a tree. Steve had learnt the painful way that punches and kicks did not work on the monster. Its entire body was covered in sharp, steel, dagger-like things and the man couldn't land an attack without getting hurt himself.

"Hey! Get out of here!" The Captain shouted out to the scared looking girl-like Pokémon behind him before turning just in time to deflect another attack from the red monster with his shield.

_Just what in the world is this thing?_

Steve gritted his teeth and readied himself to defend against the attacks of the creature before him again when said creature was suddenly blasted away to the side. Stunned, the super soldier stared at the trail of smoke where the creature had hurtled before an all-too familiar snarky voice jolted him from his stupor.

"Having problems, Captain?"

Steve spun around with a wide smile on his face to see  _all_ of his teammates grinning at him. Finally! Tony in particular looked extremely smug as he eyed the man's  _slightly_ tattered uniformed and gave a little cough.

"You seem to be in a pretty  _bad_  state." The billionaire smirked and Steve found himself grinning despite all that had happened.

"Shut up, Stark." Steve replied amiably as he strode over and gave Tony an appreciative slap on the shoulder.

"Ral?" The tiny Pokémon approached the group cautiously and gazed pointedly at Steve.

"Is that- a Ralts?" Tony's brows shot up in surprise as Steve smiled and picked the tiny Pokémon up gently.

"Ralts? Is that her name?" Steve asked curiously as Ralts wrapped its arms around his neck affectionately.

"Yes." Bruce replied while Tony rolled his eyes. Figures that only the Captain would be able to get a Pokémon without even knowing what it is.

"You do know that it's a Pokémon right Cap?" Tony smirked and Steve glared at him.

"I am not an idiot, Tony."

"Aw, you finally found the little lady to your gentleman, I think I am about to cry."

"Pawniard!" A sudden fierce growl was heard once more and attention was drawn from Tony's snide comments towards the battered looking Pawniard glaring at them. All of the Avengers stiffened and eyed the Pokémon warily while Tony entered a battle stance, ready to blast the vicious creature away again if necessary. The Pawniard's hardened gaze swept across all its enemies before coming to a rest on the Ironman. However, after staring down the Tony, suit and all for a moment, the Pokémon's gaze softened and it lowered its arms from the initial fighting stance.

Tony and the others hardly had time to be puzzled over the Pawniard's sudden change of attitude when the Pokémon suddenly leapt towards a shocked Tony and clung tightly onto the man's armoured leg.

"Oi! What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?" Tony shouted and attempted in vain to forcibly pry the Pokémon off. Thor moved forward to assist his friend but retreated after seeing the sinister, forbidding gleam in the Pawniard's eyes when he neared it.

"Pawniard! Pawniard!" The Pokémon chanted happily when the threat of Thor was over and rubbed its head in a not-so-cute fashion against Tony's knee pads. The billionaire winced at the sharp scratching noises that resulted.

"Hey! Tiny! You are scratching the suit! Get off!" Tony yelled. "Guys, a little help here would be appreciated." The man glared at Clint who was chuckling gleefully. Natasha simply stood smirking at the side while Steve, Bruce and Thor, to their credit, seemed at a loss of what to do.

"I think he likes you." Clint wheezed after finally recovering from his laughter.

"Thanks for the observation, Birdbrain.  _That_ was really helpful" Tony said tartly.

"You are welcome, Smartass."

"Careful, Tony. You might end up pulling your leg off." Natasha drawled lazily as she lolled onto a nearby tree. Tony glowered at her while Pawniard tapped on the armour in an almost loving manner, grinning happily when a few spine-chilling scratching sounds were made from the collision of their respective metal plates. There was a moment's silence as everyone observed its odd behaviour.

"Wow." Bruce muttered finally, unsure of what to think or do. Tony, on the other hand, gave a sigh of exasperation.

"Alright, this is seriously freaking me out. Isn't this freaking anyone else out?"

XXX

Loki smirked as he gazed at the swirling mist around him. It was getting dark, and along with the fog shrouding the area at this time, it was near impossible to see anything around him. However, the god could sense that something, or rather, someone was near. Someone he had been searching for.

"Why are you here,  _human_?" A cold voice echoed in the darkness and Loki's grin grew wider. It looks like his journey here had not been in vain.

"Why don't you take a guess?" The god answered with amusement, gazing in the direction where he had sensed the creature to be.

"Leave immediately, and do not return. Or you will suffer my wrath." The voice warned.

"I would love to see the extent of your  _wrath_." Loki smirked in reply and in the very next moment, conjured up a barrier to block an incoming surge of energy blasted in his direction. The force of the impact blew the surrounding mist away and as the smoke and fog cleared, the god found himself staring into the blue eyes of a pink humanoid creature.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mewtwo." Loki grinned evilly.


	5. The Crazy Things We Do

"So… what do we do now?"

The question lingered in the air, accompanied with a long silence as all of the Avengers sat around in an empty clearing of the forest, staring at each other awkwardly.

Tony hummed thoughtfully as he pondered the question, refusing to look at the Pawniard who had at long last released its tight grip on his armoured leg and was presently gazing up at him with an almost intimidating type of adoration. Bruce, on the other hand, was quiet and so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Mankey chuckling and fiddling with his hair, seemingly intent on giving its human a bed-head hairstyle. Clint did though, and snickered at Bruce's dishevelled look only to shut up promptly as Natasha glowered at him for not taking the situation seriously.

Steve cleared his throat a few moments later, deciding that as team leader he had better take up the role of leading the discussion.

"Does anyone even have any idea of where we are now?" The Captain asked, gently stroking the head of the Ralts sitting happily on his lap as he did so. "Thor?" The Thunder god jolted up at the very mention of his name. "You know Loki best. Do you know where he could have transported us, or has he even done anything of this sort in the past?" Thor's brows furrowed and Pikachu, who had been enjoying having its head rubbed by the god made a displeased sound when he stopped in favour of answering Steve's question.

"I do not know, my friend." Thor answered gravely. "Loki had showed his prowess in teleportation and I had witnessed his opening of hidden passageways between worlds in the past. However, without his help, it is impossible for me to know of which world he has sent us into. I certainly have not known of a world where wonderful creatures such as Pikachoo have existed before."

"Pokémon." Bruce muttered suddenly and everyone turned to stare at the scientist. Tony had a hard time biting back a laugh when he saw the sight of his friend with his hair jutting out in all directions and Mankey bouncing gleefully behind him. "Pokémon," Bruce repeated again before his eyes lit up. "If there are Pokémon, it means that we are possibly in one of the several regions of the Pokémon world, regardless of how ridiculous that sounds." The man clicked his tongue impatiently as he considered all the possible facts they were being presented. "But I have never known any specific region where all five generations of Pokémon are present." He stared around at their respective partners: Pikachu, Yanma, Torchic, Mankey, Ralts and Pawniard. Two first generation Pokémon, one second generation, two third and one fifth. Damn.

_I might have concluded that we were in the Jotho or Hoenn region if not for Pawniard's presence._

"Tony," Bruce turned to the billionaire. "Which version of the game did you introduce to Loki?" Tony's brows lifted at this question.

"Heartgold. It was the latest updated version I had of this game." Tony replied promptly.

"And by updated, you mean…" Bruce had a bad feeling about this.

"Well, basically some minor recoding of the game. You know, incorporating all the other Pokémon from every generation there is, opening up passages between all known regions, etcetera etcetera." Tony said casually and there was a low groan from almost all the Avengers who realised what this implied. Thor simply looked confused.

"What?" Tony protested at the glares he received from his friends. "I figured that having more Pokémon and regions to explore in the game would keep Loki busy for a longer period of time. It did keep that asshole out of our way for three weeks, mind you!" The genius finished indignantly.

"I do not understand." Thor rumbled in his deep voice, interrupting the exchange. "What has any of this got to do with anything?"

"Well, you see Thor. If Stark had been contented with keeping his fucking games the way they are, or maybe even  _keeping them to himself_ , then perhaps when we are landed in a fucked up situation like this one, we could fucking know where we are." Clint growled unhelpfully and shot Tony a murderous look. Ralts whimpered timidly on Steve's lap and the Captain, sensing that an argument was about to boil up again, hurriedly spoke up to calm the situation.

"Tony didn't mean for this to happen. And there is no point in blaming anyone now." Steve said commandingly and Clint and Tony, who were both bristling at that time, visibly toned down a little. As the atmosphere became less tense, Ralts' whimpering started quieting down. Steve glanced down anxiously at his friend, wondering if something was wrong before Bruce, seeing his confusion, decided to be kind and explain to the Captain what was happening with Ralts.

"Ralts can sense human emotions Steve." The scientist said calmly. "She probably got a little upset when Clint and Tony were angry." ( _"Hey! I wasn't angry. Birdbrain was the one with his panties in a twist!"_ )

"She can sense human emotions?" Steve repeated in amazement. He glanced once more at the tiny Pokémon on his lap and found it hard to believe that this delicate creature had such an amazing ability.

"Yea, and they have a tendency to choose their partners too. Ralts probably stuck with you because of your overwhelming goody-goody character." Tony said sourly, still in a bad mood after his near-argument with Hawkeye. Steve opted to ignore Tony and instead stroke Ralts tenderly to calm the tiny Pokémon down. Bruce gave a tiny cough and turned back to Thor, who still seemed confused by the entire situation after Clint's unhelpful explanation.

"What Clint had meant to say earlier," Bruce cast a disapproving glance at the archer, "was that Tony's modifications to Loki's game may have increased his knowledge of Pokémon, allowing him to be able to create illusions of more regions instead of just one. If this place we are currently in is actually an illusion crafted out by your brother, it will be a lot harder to discover our location or track Loki down, considering how the place is a lot larger." Thor nodded slowly as he struggled to absorb what Bruce had said. Tony, however, gave a little snort.

"Aren't we being a bit too presumptuous here?" The genius said sarcastically. "This is merely a theory, no offence buddy," he directed to Bruce who gave an understanding smile and nodded back. "What we are assuming now, is that Loki had managed to create an illusion of a world and all its Pokémon inhabitants so real, that all of us are lost in his little Wonderland. But, we failed to think if that is even possible. Is it possible Loki could have created something like that?" Tony pointed at his leering Pawniard. Natasha gave a tiny snicker at the sight of Tony being unnerved by Pawniard's toothy grin.

"I wouldn't put it past me that Loki would create like that." She suggested mockingly. Tony glared at her and waved her comment away uncaringly.

"That's beside the point. The point is that this might not even be an illusion!" The billionaire exclaimed and Bruce frowned at his friend's claim. Steve rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he considered what Tony said.

"So you're saying, that this is an actual world. That we might have been…" The soldier trailed off, unsure of what to say next and Tony finished his sentence for him.

"Yep, we might have been sent into a real actual Pokémon world. Given the fact that we know nothing about Loki's magic, we can't rule out that he is capable of inter-dimensional travel."

There was a stunned silence after Tony's revelation. Things have suddenly appeared to be more serious than all of them had thought. An illusion they could have tried to find a way to break, but travelling between realities?

Clint rubbed his face vigorously; the stress of their situation was now bearing down on him. Yanma did not help much either, buzzing on the man's head and agitating him even more. Natasha shot a stern warning glance at the chirping Torchic next to her to shut it up and turned back to the group, asking the question no one had an answer to.

"So what the hell do we do now?"

XXX

"What do you mean you have no intent of conquering the world?"

Loki stared incredulously at the stern glaring pink creature before him. The god and Mewtwo were now sitting opposite each other in a cosy cave atop Mt. Quena, a utopia-like habitat where the legendary Pokémon and its friends dwelled. After a short furious battle where both god and Pokémon had been unable to best each other, Loki had explained that he had arrived in peace. Mewtwo, deciding that this particular human was a worthy opponent and deducing that he was not likely here to attack the Pokémon it protected, allowed the god to stay for a while and state his reasons for appearing.

"I have no interest in your proposal, human." Mewtwo repeated in his stern, unfeeling voice and Loki felt a surge of annoyance within him.

"I am Loki, of Asgard. And I am no human." The god said indignantly and Mewtwo's eyes widened slightly in surprise at this declaration. The Pokémon wondered if this was the reason why the being before him had the ability to counter his attacks.

"Pardon me, Loki of Asgard," Mewtwo replied. "Your abilities do differ from that of an ordinary human's." Loki grinned smugly at this point. "However, I must reject your proposal. I have no interest in waging war against the human race and conquering the world again."

"Why?" Loki's brows knotted with confusion at the Pokémon's constant refusal.

Mewtwo had been the first and only to catch his attention during his three weeks of researching into Pokémon. The origins and similarities of the Pokémon to himself had intrigued him. Both of them were seconded to another not because of ability, but because of birth. Both of them were used, betrayed and both of them had risen even higher because of that. He had been sure that Mewtwo would understand his proposition; that the Pokémon would agree to exacting revenge on those that had slighted them in the past. Even though the movie Loki watched had ended in Mewtwo leaving with his clones, thanks to some stupid freckly boy and his sentiment, the god had been sure that the legendary Pokémon's ambitions would not be quelled so easily.

"Do you not wish to exact your vengeance on those who had slighted you? To prove that you are no less worthy than Mew?" Loki asked quizzically and Mewtwo frowned.

"Those days are behind me." The Pokémon replied coldly. "After the run-in with Team Rocket, Ash Ketchum and his friends had helped me realise that my worth was no less than any other original Pokémon's." Loki listened to Mewtwo's words with confusion.  _Wait, there had been events happening after that movie?_

"I had put my hatred behind me, and I have travelled the cities for ages, observing the bonds of humans and Pokémon. Their friendship, their love of each other is sacred, and it is something I would not want to destroy due to selfish ambitions." Mewtwo stated firmly. "Besides, my friends had taken great pains to search for me and beg for my return to our home. I would never abandon them and all those who have chosen to live here under my protection."

"Your friends?" Loki asked in bewilderment. He was answered by a brief pattering of footsteps and a cheerful 'Pika' when a scruffy looking Pikachu and Meowth scampered into the cave. The two Pokémon took their places next to Mewtwo and stared at Loki with curiosity.

"Indeed, my friends." Mewtwo confirmed as it gazed down at both Pikachu and Meowth. Pikachu nuzzled closer towards the larger Pokémon while Meowth flashed a happy grin. Loki hardly had the time to gape at the scene when Mewtwo turned back to him again.

"You are an extraordinary being, Loki of Asgard, and a worthy opponent. I have no interest in your proposal, but you are welcome to stay in our sanctuary if you wish. However, be warned, for if your actions disturb the peace in our home, my wrath shall not spare you." With that, Mewtwo flew off, leaving Loki with a displeased scowl and two other curious little Pokémon to sniff and prod at him.

XXX

"Finally!" Tony exclaimed as he gazed at the buildings in the distance. Beside him, Clint gave an exhilarated whoot and Yanma flew happy circles around his head, prompting the archer to shoo it away irritably. Pawniard gave a pleased bark as it edged creepily closer to Tony to ensure contact between it and the shiny metal suit.

The Avengers had finally found their way out of the maze-like forest after hours of searching and all of them were extremely exhausted by now. The sight of the town in the distance was like an oasis in a desert, and similar relieved grins were plastered all over their faces as they made their way towards civilisation.

Pikachu and Thor dashed towards the town cheerily in a race while Clint and Natasha followed them, laughing at the god's antics. Steve carried Ralts gently in his muscular arms, cooing at it occasionally to keep both their moods up. Tony and Bruce strolled behind leisurely, one half-heartedly scolding his Pokémon for messing his hair up too much while the other constantly edged away from his, disliking the scratching metal sounds caused whenever their armours collided.

"So, what do you think that town could be?" Bruce asked his friend as they neared it. Tony gave a little shrug.

"Who knows? Perhaps we could ask the people there. Or maybe we will find a signpost around here just like how it is in the cartoons." Tony joked.

"Anime." Bruce corrected him and Tony rolled his eyes. The billionaire was just about to reply when Steve's shout interrupted him.

"Hey guys! I found a signpost here!"

Struggling not to laugh at the aptness of the situation, Bruce and Tony made their way over to where Steve was, excitedly signalling to his team mates to come over and take a look at his find.

"It says 'New Bark Town'." Steve read and Tony gave a low whistle.

"Well, I guess that settles it guys, we are in Johto."

Bruce nodded while Clint gave a huff.

"Fat load of help that is." The archer retorted sceptically and Tony wagged his finger at him.

"Don't be so quick to get all grumpy Barton. Look on the bright side of things. We are near civilisation. We can get basic amenities. We can ask for information. And we know we are not in a totally alien place ( _Clint scoffed at this point, "speak for yourself."_ ), technically. At least we know where Johto is!" Tony finished.

"That's right, at least we could navigate ourselves around this particular region." Bruce confirmed reasonably. Clint did not seem too convinced, but knew better than to argue further.

The Avengers continued their trudge towards New Bark Town and the moment they arrived, Tony stopped a boy no older than twelve to ask for directions.

"Whoa Mister! What's with your outfit? You going for a festival or something?" The boy stared at Tony with wide-eyed amazement and the billionaire ignored the sniggers from Clint and Natasha behind him.

"Not important kid," Tony replied flatly. "Are we in Johto now?" The boy nodded mutely. Tony rubbed his chin thoughtfully; however, before he could ask his next question, the boy caught sight of the Pawniard next to Tony and gave an excited squeal.

"Whoa! You have a Pawniard? That's way cool man! They are rare around here." The boy beamed at the sight of the Pokémon while Pawniard gave him a look of distrust.

"Yea right, cool." Tony replied sarcastically and Steve shook his head at his friend's meanness. "Alright kid, second question: If Pokémon from Unova like this one," he nudged Pawniard slightly, "are rare in these parts, how did I find one in the forest back there? And not to mention them?" Tony gestured towards Ralts and Torchic. The boy's face lit up at the sight of the rarer Pokémon. "They shouldn't be native around here, right?"

"Ooh boy! You guys have a Ralts and Torchic too?" The boy clapped his hands in glee, not answering Tony's question. "That's cool! Way cool! Beyond cool even!"

"Yes kid, we know it's getting cold!" Tony snapped ( _"Tony!" Steve chided._ ) "Now can you answer my question?" The boy turned back to the man with large shining eyes.

"Huh? Yea! Sorry about that." The kid apologised sheepishly. "Yea, Pokémon from regions like Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova are rare around here. In fact, they had never even been seen in Johto in the past. But, years ago, the professors from the various regions agreed that it would be good to study and breed Pokémon from every region to increase the diversity around their parts. So shipments of Pokémon were made to each region and introduced to the native habitats there." The boy explained eagerly. "But still, Pokémon of other regions were still rare in Johto and it is considered lucky if you get one!"

"I see," Bruce mumbled and the boy took a quick glance at him before turning back to Tony.

"Erm, so… You guys came from the Labyrinth Forest back there?" The boy asked curiously and Tony frowned. Labyrinth Forest? He had never heard of such a name. "That's amazing, that place is like a maze!" The kid exclaimed.

"We know, kid. We know." Tony muttered. "Hey, can you show us around the town. I don't really want to relive another experience like earlier." The boy nodded zealously and brought the Avengers around New Bark, chattering away non-stop as he showed them the Pokémon Centre and various shops in town. Tony almost immediately regretted his decision and cursed himself for not finding another guide that would not numb his eardrums. Thor and Pikachu pressed their faces against the windows of every single food store they passed while Natasha briefly took notes of the layout of the town. Steve took Tony's place next to the chattering boy, whose name he learnt was Ed, occasionally chatting back as they discussed about the Ralts sleeping in his arms.

Finally, Ed's tour of the town came to an end as he showed them:

"Professor Elm's laboratory." Ed finished proudly. "It's pretty big isn't it? Professor Elm is one of the best Pokémon researchers around here."

"Yes kid, we know." Tony replied with annoyance. "Well, I guess this concludes our tour then? You have been really helpful kid. Thank you! You may go on home now."

"Tony!" Steve chided again before turning to the cheerful boy. "Thanks Ed, you are a great help."

"Glad to be of assistance!" The boy replied happily before giving them a big wave. "Hope to see you all again!"

"Hope not." Tony muttered softly as the boy ran off and Steve glared at him. Seeing the look the Captain was giving him, Tony cleared his throat and started talking again before Steve could open his mouth. "Right, so now that we know the place, I believe it's time to put the next step of our plan in action."

"I thought the next step was still in progress." Clint replied scathingly and Tony chuckled.

"Well, it's complete now, Birdy. Next step is trying to re-establish contact with our world." Everyone stared in confusion at the genius. "Or at least try." Tony added after seeing the incredulous looks on his friends' faces.

"How are you going to do that?" Natasha asked cynically, echoing the doubts in everyone's minds.

"Fix Jarvis." Tony smiled and at command, the Iron Man suit shifted and folded off the man's body, packing itself back into a tight suitcase. The rest of the Avengers mumbled in agreement to the plan while their Pokémon were awed by the display. However, none was as shocked as Pawniard was.

The tiny metal Pokémon first shot a stunned glance at the now normally clothed Tony and then the metallic red suitcase before a look of comprehension dawned on its face.

"Hey, what's the matter tiny fella?" Tony asked as the Pawniard gave a fierce growl and took a step back from the man. The others watched the exchange with apprehension.

"That thing's not going crazy again, is it?" Natasha asked anxiously and Thor gave a nervous gulp.

"Erm, you alright?" Tony started once again, taking a step towards Pawniard but the Pokémon snarled and flashed its sharp claws menacingly at the man. Steve readied his shield and clutched Ralts even tighter towards him. Tony backed away from the Pokémon with an 'okay I surrender' gesture and bent to pick up his Iron Man suit case when Pawniard growled once more. Before anyone one could react, the Pokémon pounced towards the suitcase, knocking Tony off balance and hugging the metal suitcase protectively.

"Whoa! What the hell!?" Tony yelled as he landed on his rump. There, the billionaire sat on the dusty road under the shocked stares of his teammates until he managed to compose himself and Bruce and Steve went over to help him up.

"You okay, my friend?" Thor asked Tony anxiously.

"Yea, a little bruised. Non-fatal, I'll live." Tony answered shortly as he glared at Pawniard, who in turn glowered back at him as it sat possessively on top of the suitcase. "OI! Get off my suit, you asshole!"

"You don't think Pawniard only likes Tony for the suit, do you?" Clint whispered to Natasha as they stared at the enraged billionaire shouting at his Pokémon. The red-haired assassin flashed a smirk back.

"Now that's materialistic."

XXX

It took Tony an entire hour to threaten, coax and reason with Pawniard to give him his suit back.

XXX

"Well, that was fun." Clint commented dryly as Tony grasped his suit tightly, not eager to have it snatched away again. Pawniard stood close next to the man, eyeing him suspiciously and keeping a close watch on the metal suitcase. It was as though it was afraid the man might run off with the suit.

"Well, er…" Bruce started uncomfortably as he gazed at Pawniard. "So, how are you going to fix Jarvis, Tony?"

"I would first need… erm resources." Tony mumbled as he glared at the Pawniard beside him. "Hey pipsqueak! Don't your eyes get tired of staring like that?" Pawniard replied with a low rumbling growl.

"Perhaps you should reconsider provoking it Friend Stark." Thor laughed nervously.

"Where are you going to get the resources?" Steve asked, hoping to distract Tony from making another cutting remark and offending anyone.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, there is a huge laboratory behind us." The billionaire replied simply. This drew everyone's attention back to the eccentric man again.

"You are not going to just march in and request for stuff to fix your suit, are you?" Clint asked disbelievingly. Tony shrugged.

"But Pikachoo and I are famished. Perhaps we should look for food first?" Thor pointed out hopefully.

"Yea, besides, how long is fixing the suit going to take? Riley is pretty exhausted too, you know?" Steve added and now, it was his turn to receive surprised stares.

"Riley? Who the hell's that?" Tony asked at last. Steve gestured towards the sleeping Ralts curled up in his arms and Tony nearly face-palmed.

"You gave your Ralts a name?"

Steve appeared affronted at Tony's sarcastic question.

"Well yes. I think she deserves a name too, Stark." Steve replied curtly and Bruce stopped Tony from retorting.

"Riley is a great name for her Steve." The scientist smiled as he elbowed Tony out of the way. "Look, let's split up. Some of us can get some food and supplies while others help Tony with the suit. It will be more efficient that way. I can go with Tony to fix the suit and Jarvis."

"That's a great plan indeed Friend Banner!" Thor boomed cheerily. "I volunteer myself and Pikachoo for the procuring of sustenance!" Pikachu leapt up and down in glee with its partner.

"Wonderful, Thor." Bruce grinned at the god's enthusiasm.

"I will go as well." Steve said, throwing one last dirty look at Tony before he followed Thor to a food store. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"I will go along with them. Make sure everything's okay." She told Clint who in turn, grinned back at her.

"Yea, and I will follow Stark and Bruce. Wouldn't miss the faces of those poor souls in the lab when Stark barges in for anything in the world."

XXX

"Professor Elm! Professor!"

Elm gazed up from his research paper as his assistant flustered over to him.

"Huh? What's the matter Ken?" The Professor asked anxiously. His assistant panted heavily before catching his breath.

"Three men! Intrusion! Three-!"

Elm gazed at the entrance of his room and saw the source of his assistant's panic: three suspicious looking strangers with a Pawniard, Mankey and Yanma were now approaching his workspace. The professor felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

_Thieves! Intuders! Robbers!_

Casting a nervous glance at the three Pokéballs lying on the table next to him, the professor quickly rushed over to stop the men. He didn't want a repeat situation of that time when some weird kid stole one of his Pokémon.

"Who are you? What do you think you are doing?" Elm cried out as he spread his arms out in an effort to stop the three men from reaching his beloved Pokémon. The goateed one in the middle lifted an eyebrow cynically at his actions.

"Tony Stark." He gestured to himself. "Bruce Banner, physicist extraordinaire. Clint Barton, Hawkeye and master marksman." He referred to the two men beside him. "Nice to meet you." The man gave a wide grin. "We came to request some help actually."

Elm was not convinced.

"You are not from Team Rocket, are you? I will never let you lay your hands on my Pokémon!"

Tony Stark gave a snort of laughter at Elm's outburst.

"Seriously? Do we look like we are from Team Rocket to you? Did we sprout all those stupid mottos and arrive in a huge repulsive smokescreen?" Tony retorted sarcastically. "By the way, please don't call the cops later and get some eleven year old kid to name us. I won't tolerate a 'Wanted' poster with my face and the name 'Silver' or 'Asshole' plastered under it."

"Tony!" Bruce stopped his friend hurriedly, seeing that the poor professor appeared even more confused by Tony's speech. Clint, however, was wheezing with laughter and clutching his sides at the back.

"I am sorry, Professor." Bruce turned to Elm apologetically. "We aren't hostile. We came to seek your help."

"Yea!" Tony continued before Elm could snap out of his stunned daze and reply. "Besides, I won't be requesting your help for nothing. I can help with making upgrades and modifications to your tech to increase their functions. Let's just think of this as a technological exchange programme, shall we?"

"Technological upgrades?" Elm's eyes lit up at the prospect of the man's offer. However, the sudden arrival of these suspicious personnel still had the professor in doubts and he wasn't sure if they could be trusted. "But why should I trust you?"

Tony gave another amused laugh at his question and Bruce tried his best to appear both friendly  _and_  apologetic for his friend's behaviour.

"Just trust us, Prof!" Tony grinned. "We are the good guys."

XXX

Hours later, Bruce and Clint followed a smug Tony as he walked out of Elm's laboratory with his suit fixed and brand new Starkdexes for every single one of the Avengers.


	6. A Great Start to a Great Journey

"What's this?" Steve asked curiously as Tony handed him a red and black electronic device. Thor, who had already received his, was scrutinising it studiously from all angles, trying to figure out how to operate this brand new piece of Midgardian technology.

"A Starkdex." Tony replied simply and Natasha's brows lifted sceptically at this statement.

"You mean a Pokédex." The red-haired assassin retorted, flippantly waving hers in front of the billionaire's face. Tony laughed.

"Nope. It's a Starkdex, Romanoff." Tony chuckled. "A newer, better improved version of the Pokédex enhanced by Stark technology." Bruce gave a tiny grin at his friend's claim while Clint, who had witnessed Elm's scandalised face when Tony messed with his Pokédex systems, sniggered at the memory. Natasha simply rolled her eyes.

The Avengers were currently gathered in New Bark's Pokémon Centre. It was late in the evening now, and our favourite group of superheroes were discussing their future plans over dinner while their Pokémon munched away happily at their food bowls at the side.

"Erm- So what does it do?" Steve gazed up from his Starkdex to look at Tony questioningly. The billionaire flashed him a smug grin.

"It's multi-functional Captain. A communicator, dictionary, guide and all-round encyclopaedia of the Pokéworld," Tony smirked as he tapped lightly on Steve's Starkdex, "all in this handy little Starkdex." Steve gaped at Tony's explanation while Thor, in his fervent exploration of the Starkdex, managed to conclude that the device could be switched on by flipping open the cover and pressing on a small round button at the top. The god did so with a flourish and triumphant 'aha' before nearly dropping the Starkdex into his bowl of soup when it started speaking to him.

"You called, Sir?" A cool mechanical voice that all the Avengers knew too well sounded from the Starkdex.

"Sir Jarvis!" Thor exclaimed in surprise as he stared wide-eyed at the red and black device. "How did you manage to find us? How have you gotten yourself trapped in this tiny red box? Tell us how we may free you!"

Tony face palmed while Bruce quietly pulled Thor over to the side to explain to him for the hundredth time that Jarvis was simply Tony's AI and could be programmed by the genius into any devices he deemed fit. Clint started snorting into his soup again. However, Steve and Natasha, who had not been with Tony when he programmed the Starkdex, looked stunned by this turn of events.

"So you programmed Jarvis into a Pokédex?" Natasha asked finally and Steve frowned as he gazed down at his.

"A Starkdex, Romanoff. A Starkdex." Tony corrected her patiently. "And yes, I figured Jarvis would be a much better guide than that terrible excuse for an AI they have in the normal Pokédexes. Aren't I right, buddy?"

"Indeed Sir." Jarvis agreed. "And I must say that I have a much better accent." The AI added blandly. Natasha rolled her eyes again. It seems that Stark had programmed his butler to take after him in a most annoying manner.

"So all this devices have Jarvis in them?" Steve asked in confusion as he contemplated if he should switch on his. The poor Captain seriously had no clue on what to do at all when it comes to modern technology.

"That's right!" Tony replied cheerily. "Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to state that Jarvis can 'travel' between these devices to aid us when needed. So you shouldn't fear decapitating Jarvis or splitting him into multiple parts when you switch on yours as well, Rogers." The genius added teasingly after seeing the doubtful looks on Steve's face. Steve gave a scowl at Tony's jab before turning his Starkdex on as well. The red and black device gave a tiny beep before the screen lit up brightly.

"Good evening, Mr Rogers." Jarvis greeted. "And if Mr Barton, Mr Banner and Ms Romanoff would be so kind to turn on their respective devices, I would be able to start calibrating all of your Starkdexes to form a communication system."

It was not long before there was a flickering green light at the top right hand corner of each Starkdex and pictures of each Avenger was displayed on the screen.

"Hey! Why did you use this photo of me!?" Clint exclaimed indignantly as he pointed to a close-up of him crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out on Tony's Starkdex. The billionaire gave a snicker.

"It's the best I could find in Jarvis's database, Birdy." Tony smirked. "This is the communications page," the billionaire continued, ignoring Clint's outraged expression. "It tracks each of our locations, just in case we ever get separated. Simply tap on the person you wish to locate or contact."

"That's really handy." Steve marvelled as he gazed in amazement at his device and Thor nodded vigorously in agreement. Clint, however, gave a cynical snort.

"Great! So we get Stark enhanced cell phones!" The archer said sourly. "Does it allow communication between us and our world, wise guy?" Everyone turned earnestly to Tony at this point of time, but the man merely gave an apologetic shrug.

"Still working on it." Tony replied and the Avengers' spirits visibly dampened. It was not like they had been expecting it to work; but still, knowing that it didn't was disheartening.

"It is hard to establish communications between our current location and the Stark Tower, although there have been seconds in the past where I was able to connect the two before connection was broken." Jarvis chimed in helpfully.

"That's right," Tony gave Bruce, who was beside him, a slap on the back before turning to the rest. "Cheer up guys! We will be able to connect to our world sooner or later."

"Well, let's hope it's sooner." Natasha muttered dryly. Tony cleared his throat loudly, ignoring the assassin's words.

"And in the meantime, let me introduce you guys to the other functions of the Starkdex. Jarv, if you will."

"Certainly Sir."

Tony grinned as he pointed the sensors at the top of the Starkdex towards the nearest Pokémon around him: Thor's Pikachu. There was a musical beep before Jarvis's clear British voice rang out.

"Pikachu. The electric mouse Pokémon. It can generate electric attacks from the electric pouches located in both of its cheeks. Pikachu is the popular mascot of the Pokémon franchise. This Pikachu is currently at level 14. Its ability is Static."

Steve and Thor, having never watched the anime before, appeared stunned by the description. Bruce, however, gave a low whistle after listening to Jarvis's speech.

"Wow! So Jarvis will tell us the levels and abilities of the Pokémon as well?" The scientist asked Tony in amazement, feeding the man's ego even further. "How does he do that?"

"It's fairly simple Brucie." Tony drawled. "Jarvis first does a full body scan of the Pokémon in question, then he follows with an inter-molecular analysis of the Pokémon's- erm-" The genius stopped mid-explanation after seeing the impatient looks from Steve, Natasha and Clint. "I'll explain it to you later Bruce. But anyway!" Tony clapped his hands together cheerily. "I figured that knowing the levels of the Pokémon will aid us in knowing their moves and their growth progress."

"We aren't Pokémon trainers, Stark." Natasha's eyes flashed dangerously as she glared at the billionaire. "We don't have time waste on mollycoddling or messing with these creatures." Tony, Steve and Thor looked affronted at her words, all for different reasons.

( _"Riley isn't a_ _ **creature**_ _!"_ )

( _"Pikachoo is not a waste of time!"_ )

"Romanoff," Tony started impatiently. "I know you are anxious to get back; we all are." The billionaire added. "But stop and think for a moment. We were sent here by Loki without knowing nutshit about inter-dimensional or inter-reality travel- whatever you call it. The safest and sanest way to get back is to track down the psychotic bastard and  _make_  him send us back." Tony paused for a moment at this point, meeting Natasha's glare without a blink. "I know you are confident in your skills, Romanoff, but Pokémon are nothing like the Chitauri we faced before. These creatures can be lethal, and we will need some of them to accompany us when we finally manage to locate Loki. Besides, I don't know about you, but I think using our powers in this world is not such a good idea." ( _Thor appeared a little disturbed by Tony's words at this point._ ) "Yep, this means no thunder-summoning and lightning voodoo with the Meow-meow for now, Pointbreak."

"The Mjolnir." Thor replied shortly. "But why, Friend Stark? Why should we not use our powers? Would it not be more convenient that way?" Tony shook his head.

"Ever went summer-exchange to another realm, Thor?" Tony asked dryly and the Thunder god looked even more confused. "We have to blend in." The man explained impatiently. "We have to act like normal people here. We can't go around in a storm of lightning and thunder to draw attention to ourselves!"

"Especially if we are hunting for Loki." Bruce added helpfully. "Besides, we don't know how the people here would react if they knew about our super-human powers." Tony nodded in agreement.

"That's right! So till we find Loki, there will be no serum enhanced super-soldiers, master assassins, hammer wielding Norse gods, incredible green Hulks or amazing Iron men; we will just be a bunch of ordinary 'trainers' with our Pokémon." Tony concluded matter-of-factly. There was a slight murmuring of argument about the extent they should use their abilities and Thor, who was bored by the conversation, took his Starkdex and pointed it at Steve's Ralts, mimicking what he saw Tony do earlier.

"Ralts. The feeling Pokémon. It uses the horns on its head to read human emotions. Ralts rarely shows itself to humans, but may occasionally approach when it senses positive or happy feelings. This Ralts is currently at level 18. Its ability is Synchronize."

The Avengers stopped their argument at this interruption to stare at Thor who simply guffawed and mused at the magnificence of this device. Steve, in particular, became very interested in learning more about his Riley, getting distracted from the present issues at hand. It was not long before the rest all started scanning their Pokémon with their Starkdexes, eager to join in the fun. Natasha took a look around, realised that this was a lost case and gave one final huff before whipping out her Starkdex as well.

"Yanma. The clear wing Pokémon. Through the use of its two large eyes, Yanma can see in all directions at once. It is capable of flapping its wings fast to create a shockwave strong enough to shatter glass. This Yanma is currently at level 15. Its ability is Compound Eyes." ( _"What?! So not only is my Yanma annoying, it gets the lousier ability as well?!"_ )

"Mankey. The pig monkey Pokémon. Although Mankey is usually calm, it does have a bad temper. Once it begins to thrash, stopping it is impossible. This Mankey is currently at level 14. Its ability is Anger Point." ( _"Before you say anything, Tony, shut up."_ )

"Torchic. The small chick Pokémon. It has a flame sac in its body that perpetually burns. Torchic feels warm when it's hugged. This Torchic is at level 14. Its ability is Blaze." ( _"Well well well! You can use your Torchic as a pillow, Romanoff!"_ )

"Pawniard. The sharp blade Pokémon. Pawniard's entire body is made of blades which it uses to inflict damage on its opponent. They fight at Bisharp's command in packs. This Pawniard is currently at level 17. Its ability is Defiant."

"Bisharp?" Steve perked a little in confusion after listening to Jarvis's description of Tony's Pokémon. "What's that, Jarvis?" The Starkdex flashed for a moment before a taller, more sinister version of Pawniard came into view.

"Bisharp. The sword blade Pokémon. It commands a group of Pawniard. Bisharp battles to become the boss, but will be driven from the group if it loses."

Clint leant over to gaze at the picture of the Bisharp on Steve's Starkdex and a strange look appeared on the marksman's face as he repeatedly turned from the picture to Tony and back again.

"Damn, I think I found the Pokémon version of you, Stark." Clint gasped before erupting into a laugh. Tony took one glance at the Bisharp picture and glared at the sniggering man.

"I  _think_ you need your eyes checked."

"Bisharp does resemble you in some way Stark," Natasha commented as she compared the Bisharp picture and Tony. "Red and silver armour, with a flashy hint of gold. You two grin in the same way too." Tony bristled a little but Bruce appeared thoughtful at the assassin's mocking claims.

"I think they may be right, Tony," Bruce told his friend gently. "They said Pawniards travel in packs, but yours was alone when we found it. Maybe it got lost and mistook you for its leader when it saw you." Tony took a moment to consider this fact while Hawkeye continued laughing:

"Hey! If Tony's a Pokémon, can we keep him in a Pokéball?"

XXX

Early next morning, the Avengers and their trusty group of Pokémon made their way out of New Bark Town, packed with abundant supplies ( _thanks to Thor_ ) for their search of one Norse God of Mischief.

"Where do we start?" Steve asked as he carried Ralts gently in his arms, unwilling to let the girl-like Pokémon tire herself out during the journey. Tony was frowning as he observed the map of Johto on his Starkdex ( _Yes! It serves as a mapping device as well!_ ).

"Well, does it show you the location of that bastard in a horned symbol like they do for the legendaries in the game?" Clint asked mockingly. Tony snapped the Starkdex shut and turned to Steve, effectively ignoring Hawkeye.

"I guess we will just have to travel down the route to Cherrygrove City and ask the people we meet along the way for information about Reindeer Games." Tony replied and his team mates gave a low groan at the thought. The Avengers had spent their previous night questioning residents of New Bark about Loki but to no avail, and the idea of repeating that experience –well- sucked balls.

"Come on, team. We can do this." Steve said encouragingly before turning to lead the way to Cherrygrove. The Captain then took a few steps before halting and turning back to Tony hesitantly. "Erm, which way is Cherrygrove again?"

Tony Stark didn't stop smirking as he helped Steve switch into the map application on his Starkdex.

XXX

After two hours of trudging and questioning of passer-bys without any results, the Avengers were tired and short on the fuse again. And it did not help that Thor insisted on scanning  _every_  single Pokémon he encountered with his Starkdex. Whilst amusing at first, with the lengthy journey and sweltering heat, this act quickly turned annoying. The Norse God only ceased in this action when Natasha eventually snapped and menacingly threatened to confiscate his Starkdex.

The Pokémon were getting a tad touchy as well. Ralts was the calmest of the lot, only occasionally whining in Steve's arms and stopping when the soldier immediately cooed at it to calm it down. Mankey had resorted to viciously assaulting Bruce's hair to quell its boredom and the scientist had long given up on stopping it. Pikachu bounded around like it was high on sugar, which was highly possible given the amount of cookies Thor had given it, and leapt up onto the god's head when it got tired. Yanma was enjoying itself, buzzing on an extremely irked Clint's head while Torchic scurried after Natasha with noisy little chirping noises, only quieting down when the assassin turned to scold it. Pawniard, however, had taken to stalking after Tony in an intimidating manner and voicing its displeasure whenever it deemed the man to be 'mishandling' the Ironman suit. Tony considered handing the Pokémon his heavy suitcase and making it carry it for the rest of the journey as his personal pageboy, only deciding against it out of pure fear that Pawniard would run off with his suit.

Finally, when the heroes reached Cherrygrove City, all of them were exhausted and gladly obliged when Thor loudly suggested that they get their afternoon meal. After lunch at a nice little bistro which served amazing berry sandwiches, the Avengers started on their quest to search for Loki again by questioning the inhabitants of Cherrygrove. It took another two hours of asking around for them to realise that this was absolutely pointless and useless.

"This is pointless and useless!" Clint groaned as the team rested at a hedge near the edge of the city. "Loki won't just appear in front of the civilians if he wanted to hide from us. How the fuck are we supposed to find him like this?!"

"Ahem."

The Avengers all spun around at the interruption to stare at a thin old man bent over with a haversack packed with goods. The old peddler beamed when he realised he had caught their attention and flashed each of the Avengers a toothy grin.

"Good day young'uns!" The old man greeted cheerily. "Buy some supplies and potions for yer journey? I have many goods for aspiring Pokémon trainers!"

"Erm- No thanks pal." Tony answered awkwardly as he gazed at the peddler. Seriously, how did the old man not topple over with that mammoth of a haversack? "We have more than enough _supplies_." The billionaire ended with a slight glance at Thor, who did not catch the jab made at him.

"Ah! I see," The old man muttered in disappointment. "Well, if you folks need anything, do not hesitate to stop old Joe when you see mah around." The peddler was just about to turn and leave when Bruce called out after him.

"Hey! Wait!"

The old man turned and peered at Bruce questioningly.

"Er- we would like to ask if you had seen this- erm- man around." Bruce started anxiously. "He's tall, pale with black hair-"

"Yeah!" Tony interrupted Bruce mid-question. "Scrawny git. Wears leather and metal and has this helmet with horns…wait, no, scrap that. Has this helmet with one horn and one stump." The genius corrected himself and Clint chuckled at the reminder of Loki's destroyed helmet, courtesy to Thor. "Anyway, a totally crazy and unpleasant individual. Seen anyone like that around here?"

The old man lifted his brows sceptically at Tony's question before speaking again with his usual slur.

"Well, now that you asked, I have seen someone that fits yer description somewhat." The peddler replied and everyone perked up at his answer. "Tall, pale, black hair, wearing a real proper outfit, speaks in this fancy posh accent, just like yer." The man added as he pointed to a stunned Thor.

"Well, where is he now?" Tony asked excitedly and the rest stared at the peddler anxiously.

"Ay, I saw that man earlier this morning." The old man rambled on as he stroked his beard. "Stopped him to peddle some of mah wares, I did! And this man, he was very nice and polite. Bought some of mah good apples." The peddler stopped to grin at the Avengers. "I've some really good apples. Got them from one of the best trees in Johto I say! They-" Tony stopped him in the middle of his ramble.

"We don't doubt the quality of your apples, pal, but seriously, where is this guy?"

The old man paused, looking offended that they were not interested in his good apples before giving a cough and continuing.

"He was travelling along the Route 30 to Violet City. Mentioned something about conquering the Pokémon League, he did!" The peddler slurred unhappily.

"Pokémon League." Tony mumbled as Bruce thanked the peddler and sent him on his way. The Avengers then crowded around and discussed their options.

"Pokémon League eh?" Tony repeated and Steve could have sworn he saw the genius's eyes glinting. Natasha caught the gleam in the eccentric man's eyes as well and she shook her head.

"No Stark, I know what you are thinking, and we are not doing it." Natasha said firmly while Tony tried his best to look innocent.

"Doing what?" Tony asked and Natasha glowered at him.

"We are not going to take part in the Pokémon League, Stark!" Natasha snapped irritably. "Even if Loki is joining the League with his level 100 Tyranitar, we are going to get there, get HIM and get the hell out of here! Not battling in the League along with him!" Tony gave an annoying 'tsk' at Natasha's outburst.

"You disappoint me, Romanoff. Let's look at the big picture here. Loki wants to 'conquer' the Pokémon League." Tony started, giving air quotes as he did so. "To 'conquer' the League, he needs badges, and where is he going to get these badges?"

"You are saying he would travel to all the gyms in Johto?" Clint asked and Tony gave him a 'boy! You are so smart and I'm so proud of you' look.

"Bingo!" The billionaire exclaimed triumphantly. "Furthermore, if Loki travels ahead of us and enters the League first, what do we need to get into the League?"

"So you are saying that we should travel to each city, search for Loki and battle the gym there if we can't find him?" Bruce asked his friend, who simply grinned and nodded.

"Exactly! There's no point not getting the badge when we are at the city." Tony declared. "And when we do enter the Pokémon League to find that psychotic asshole, we will need to utterly defeat him both physically and spiritually to make him send us back. What better way to do so than a Pokémon match?"

"I can think of loads of better ways," Clint mumbled bitterly while Thor appeared excited at the prospect of a lengthier journey.

"Are we going to participate in the glorious League of Pokémon, Friend Stark?" The god's eyes shone as he gazed at Tony and his Pikachu bounced about in cheer around him.

"Right, Thor! We are!" Tony replied gleefully, ignoring Natasha's attempts to protest. "Let's see, we need six Pokémon for the League, and we have six among us." The conceited billionaire gazed around at the Avengers' partners.

"Here we have a bouncing ball of electricity that appears insanely powerful only in the cartoons," Tony pointed at Pikachu. "Then we have a potentially powerful psychic," the man gestured to the Ralts napping in Steve's arms. "A furry fighting ball of rage, a blazing fire chicken, this strange tiny metal tin can-" Tony glanced distastefully at his sneering Pawniard, "-and… a bug." The man finished with a glance at Yanma buzzing on the scowling archer's head. "Okay, so we have five potentially powerful Pokémon." Tony corrected himself and Clint glared at him murderously.

"Wait!" Steve spoke up anxiously after remaining quiet all this while. "Does this mean we have to send our Pokémon out to battle or something like that?"

"Yes, Steve. I'm afraid we will." Bruce replied and Steve looked torn at the scientist's words.

"But, our Pokémon will face other Pokémon in battles, right?" The Captain said as he struggled to remember what Tony had taught him about the game. "And it ends when-"

"When one Pokémon faints." Bruce finished for the man sympathetically. The scientist had a rough idea of what's going to happen next.

Steve gazed down at the fragile looking Ralts sleeping in his arms before his face hardened and he turned to glare at Tony.

"I'm not letting Riley take part in all that." Steve declared firmly. Tony Stark swore his eyes could have rolled all the way to the back of his head if it was possible. There was a hush among the Avengers as Steve and Tony started a glaring match with each other.

"Your little 'Riley' is a psychic type Rogers! It's probably one of the strongest Pokémon we have! It's not as helpless as you think it is!" Tony argued but the Captain simply shook his head stubbornly.

"No! I am not going to throw her into battles, Stark! It's barbaric!" Steve snapped.

Thor, Bruce, Clint and Natasha watched as the two started bickering about Pokémon and barbarism. Bruce gave a sigh.  _Looks like our journey isn't going to be easy_. Thor, however, brightened up suddenly in the middle of the argument.

"Should my Pikachoo have a name of his own as well?" The god pondered aloud as Steve started off into a rant of how it would be inhumane to force Pokémon like Riley to 'kill' each other.

"I think 'Pikachoo' is a good enough name for a Pikachu, Thor." Clint retorted sarcastically as both he and Natasha broke off into sniggers.

"Pikachu, it's Pikachu, Thor." Bruce offered kindly when he saw the befuddled look on the god's face. The scientist then proceeded to give his friend a lesson on the correct pronunciation of Pokémon names.

XXX

Hiding behind a tall oak tree from a distance, the old peddler grinned with amusement as he gazed at the Avengers.

_My, aren't they stirring up a scene now?_

Within a split second, the bent, frail old man transformed into a sleek young god with black hair and gleaming emerald green eyes.

_Mock my helmet, would they? Well, let's see how much they like chasing around the whole of Johto._

Loki flashed another evil smirk as he took one last glance at the Avengers and his oaf of a brother before teleporting away.

 


	7. Thor's First Pokemon Match!

A smug grin was plastered on Loki's face as the god materialized atop Mount Quena, landing gracefully on the soft green grass. Several Rattatas playing near the spot where the god teleported gave a yelp of fright and scampered off when he appeared. 

Mewtwo, who had been lazing along with Pikachu and Meowth next to the giant lake in the middle of the plateau, glanced up at this slight disturbance. His eyes narrowed when he saw who it was.  
  
"I thought you had left." The Pokémon gave Loki a questioning look, but it was obvious to all that this was not meant as a question. Loki gave a low chuckle.  
  
"I had left momentarily," the god replied with a smirk, "to pay some _dear friends_ a visit. And now I am back." A crowd of Pokémon had gathered at this moment, curious and wary of this mysterious intruder speaking to their leader. After all, it was not often that they saw Mewtwo tolerating the presence of a human in their home.  
  
"I have decided to accept your gracious offer of staying in your magnificent abode." Loki smiled as he gazed around the grassy plains of Mount Quena.   
  
"You wish to stay here?" If Mewtwo had eyebrows they would have shot all the way to the top of his head. The legendary Pokémon was now staring at Loki with so much disbelief and suspicion that it was certain the god would find himself fending off numerous energy balls if he ever showed the slightest sign of hostility.  
  
"For a short spell, yes." Loki nodded and Mewtwo tensed up considerably. "Surely you would not deny me this little favour?" The god's head tilted as he gazed expectantly at Mewtwo. "After all, you had been the one to extend this invitation to me in the first place." Loki added with a sly grin. "I figured that we could learn a lot from one another's powers and during my period of stay, I would gladly offer my aid in protecting your friends if the time calls for it."  
  
Mewtwo continued glaring at Loki with distrust as he considered the god's words. It was true that Mewtwo himself had allowed the man to stay if he wished to. It was also true that this Loki of Asgard had extraordinary powers, unlike those of the other humans. To evict him forcefully may lead to great damage to their home and Mewtwo was unwilling to risk that. Nor was the Pokémon one to turn back easily on a promise.  
  
Loki grinned as the legendary Pokémon nodded its head slowly as a sign of consent. The God of Mischief had now succeeded in securing himself a hiding place as he continued in his glorious schemes of tormenting his pesky brother and the Avengers. Furthermore, Loki thought gleefully as he gazed at the frowning Mewtwo, he was sure that he would be able to persuade the Pokémon to join in his plans of world domination sooner or later.   
  
After all, Loki was not called ‘Silver-tongue’ for nothing.  
  
XXX  
  
"Booyah!" Tony cheered as the old, oriental buildings of Violet City came into view.   
  
It had taken the Avengers another day and a half to reach their destination and Tony Stark was getting dangerously close to suing Nintendo for 'gross misrepresentation of the Pokémon World in their games’ now. The genius understood the concept of downscaling, but oh come on! Representing 200 miles ( _or what seemed like it_ ) as 1 inch on the console screen had to be illegal!

Beside him, Pawniard gave a pleased bark as it hugged the Iron man suit tightly. Halfway through their journey, Tony had gotten tired of trudging the heavy Iron man suit around and decided after ‘careful observation’ of his Pokémon to entrust it with the role of his personal pageboy, aka servant. Pawniard practically jumped with glee when the conceited billionaire dumped the suitcase to it to carry and there had been no incidents of it running off with the suit, _yet_. Tony did note, however, that he would have to think of a wonderful excuse to get the Pokémon to return him the suit in the future. 

Steve gazed in awe at the buildings around him.

“Are we in China now?” The Captain asked curiously as he observed the intricate designs on one particularly huge tower in the middle of the city. Tony gave an amused chuckle at Steve’s question.

“It’ll probably be more accurate to say that we’re in Japan, Cap. After all, Pokémon originated from Japan in our world and the Poké-regions are based off actual regions in Japan as well.” Tony replied and Steve glanced at him before looking to Bruce, who gave a nod of confirmation.

“Japan, eh?” Steve repeated absent-mindedly as he stroked the Ralts in his arms.

“Yep. The very same one you fought in World War II.” Tony grinned and Steve shot him a bemused look.

“I know what Japan is, thank you very much.” The man answered shortly and Tony gave a shrug of his shoulders. Steve had yet to see eye-to-eye with Tony regarding matters of Pokémon battling yet, and although both men had agreed to put the matter aside temporarily for the sake of the team, it was obvious that neither were exactly happy with each other.

“That is the Sprout Tower.” Bruce said hurriedly, hoping to circumvent another fight. The scientist pointed to the huge tower Steve had been gazing at earlier. “I guess you could say that it is one of the more famous landmarks in Johto.”

“Anyone game to get a HM?” Tony grinned as he gazed around at his friends. “Secret Machine.” The man clarified after seeing the confused looks on Steve and Thor’s face. “Teaches your Pokémon new attack moves.”

“You’ll only get the move ‘Cut’ here. We don’t need it! I can handle any greens that get in our way.” Clint retorted and flashed his Swiss army knife about menacingly. Tony didn’t even have the time to reply when Natasha interrupted the conversation.

“Loki, guys. Loki. Let’s not get distracted by other things here.” The red-headed assassin finished with a glare at Tony Stark. “We need to start asking people if they have seen Loki around.”

There was a slight mumbling and voicing of opinions among the group on how to proceed with their search for the God of Mischief in this new city when a nerdy kid with huge spectacles walked up to them.

“Hey! I haven’t seen you guys around here before!” The boy exclaimed as he gazed at the group. “Are you guys Pokémon trainers?” The Avengers exchanged hesitant glances before turning back to the kid. Tony took the initiative to speak up.

“Maybe.” The billionaire replied. “What’s with that question, kid? You want to challenge us to a Pokémon match or something?” The boy glanced at Tony and then at the Pawniard leering at him beside Tony before giving a gulp, deciding that his Pidgey probably won’t last a minute with that thing.

“Huh! No, not anything like that.” The boy said nervously. “I was just curious, you know. There have been plenty of trainers travelling through our city. Of course, they came  for the sole purpose of challenging the Pokémon gym here!” He finished matter-of-factly. Tony was about to speak when Thor came lumbering up to the boy in excitement.

“Young boy! You said that there is a Pokémon Gym here?” The god asked eagerly.

“Well yes. It’s over there.” The boy gave Thor a quizzical look before turning to point at a regal building not too far out in the distance. “Falkner’s the gym leader here.”

“Ah yes! I know of Falkner!” Thor boomed enthusiastically and Bruce decided that it would be wise to stop the god before he said anything stupid.

“We all do, Thor.” Bruce gave a forceful little smile. “He’s famous in Johto.” The scientist added to the boy, who beamed back at the recognition of their city’s gym leader.

“Right, so if there’s nothing else, you may go on your way kid.” Tony added dryly and the boy gave a start before nodding and turning to leave.

“Farewell young friend!” Thor called cheerily, prompting the boy to turn and give the god one last weird look before walking off. “My friends!” Thor turned to the rest of the Avengers. “The little boy has showed us the way to the Pokémon gym! We should head there immediately and earn our first badge!”

“We need to search for Loki, Thor.” Natasha gritted her teeth impatiently. _As if one Tony Stark wasn’t bad enough, now Thor is caught up in this Pokémon fanactism as well!_

Thor’s shoulders drooped a little at his friend’s reminder.

“But Pikachoo-” He paused for a moment and glanced at Bruce nervously. “Pikachu,” The god corrected himself, “is thirsting for battle as well.” The Pikachu beside him gave a ‘Pika!’ of agreement and leapt up on the god’s shoulders happily. Tony gave a cynical little laugh at this.

“I’m sure both you and Pikachu are itching for a fight, Thor, but I don’t think it’s wise to challenge the gym now. With your Pikachu’s current level, it might not end that well, buddy.” The genius advised reasonably. However, Thor appeared more angered than appeased by Tony’s statement.

“Are you implying that Pikachu is not capable of battle?!” Thor roared and Tony started rubbing his temples in exasperation. _Good grief!_

“Tony didn’t mean it that way, Thor!” Bruce started hurriedly but the god was too enraged to listen.

“The mighty Thor will not be slighted in this manner, Stark! Pikachu and I shall conquer this gym and prove to you our worth!”

“Thor! Wait!”

The other Avengers stared as the Thundergod marched off angrily towards the Violet gym, nose high up in the air and Pikachu bounding after him.

“Well that’s peachy.” Tony mumbled bemusedly to himself as Bruce gave a long suffering sigh.

“He’s going to participate in one of those Pokémon battles?” Steve frowned at the thought of Thor placing his Pikachu in danger. The super soldier gazed down at his Ralts and decided readily that yes, there was no way he was going to let Riley take part in these uncivilised fights.

“We’d better follow Thor and make sure he’s okay.” Bruce muttered after a while.

“You guys can go on. Barton and I will head around town to gather supplies and information about Loki.” Natasha stated grimly and Steve nodded in approval of the plan. Clint, however, appeared outraged by the suggestion.

“But Nat! Thor’s match is going to be epic! I want to watch it!” The archer protested as Natasha gripped him firmly by the arm and dragged him away, Torchic hopping cheerily next to them. Yanma buzzed around and observed the scene for a moment before trailing happily after its struggling partner. Bruce watched the four leave with a tiny amused smile on his face before turning to Tony, who was sniggering at Clint’s indignation.

“Hawkeye is so whipped.” Tony smirked after catching Bruce’s eye and the scientist returned his quip with a smile.

“Ready to head to the gym?” The scientist asked and Tony’s smug expression immediately turned sombre.

“I can hardly wait.”

XXX

Tony didn’t know how he managed to get seated on the side aisles of the gym, staring at the centre field where the gym battle was about to start. It may be due to Bruce’s amazing diplomatic skills, or it may be due to Steve’s super charming good looks, but the gym assistant had caved in pretty quickly and allowed them to enter and watch as the challenger’s ( _Thor’s_ ) friends. One thing’s for certain though: the trio were too late to stop the match and Thor was too pumped up at the moment to be reasoned with.

“Let’s do this Pikachu! We shall show them our might!” Thor cheered enthusiastically to his Pokémon, who was already standing with rapt attention on the field. The god was currently standing on one of the high platforms at the side, allowing him a clear view of the entire battle field. Over at the other side, Falkner gave a sceptical snort at his opponent’s zeal before tossing a Pokéball onto the field.

“Pidgeot! Get ready for battle!” The gym leader commanded and a humongous bird with a plummet of gold and red feathers burst out of the  Pokéball. Thor took a moment to gape at the magnificent sight before composing himself again. _No, Pikachu was sure to win!_

“This is _positively_ barbaric!” Steve huffed in disapproval. The super soldier was seated next to Tony and was currently doing his best to stop the Ralts on his lap from viewing the spectacle. “Don’t look Riley.” Tony rolled his eyes at Steve’s actions and turned to Bruce.

“Barbaric? No. Soon-to-be-embarassing? Yes. I don’t think I can bear to look either. It’s just too painful. Be a pal and tell me when the match is over, Brucie.” Tony then covered his eyes in exaggeration and Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend’s antics. Pawniard appeared surprised by his partner and gave Tony a sharp poke, prompting the billionaire to jump and glare at him.

“Shh! The battle’s starting!” Bruce chided both Tony and his Mankey, who was getting restless at the back.

“The challenger, Thor Odinson from… As- Asgard, using his Pikachu!” The referee started out and stumbled over his words in his confusion during his announcement of Thor’s originating ‘town’. However the man quickly continued his speech. “The Leader, Falkner of Violet City, using his Pidgeot! This is a one on one Pokémon match! Let the battle begin!”

“Pikachu! Go! Attack!” Thor yelled and Pikachu seemed about to charge forward before pausing at Thor’s commands and turning back to his partner with a questioning look.

Tony facepalmed.

“Does he even know what he’s doing?”  The billionaire hissed to Bruce, who appeared stunned. The scientist then hurriedly flipped open his Starkdex.

“Jarvis! Tell Thor that he needs to specify the move he wants Pikachu to use!” Bruce muttered urgently.

“Right away Mr Banner,” Jarvis replied calmly and there was a slight pause in Thor’s animated actions and shouts as the god listened to whatever Jarvis must be telling him on his platform. Thor then shot his friends on the aisle a brief glance before turning back to the match.

“Erm-” The god was tongue-tied for a moment before regaining his composure. “Pikachu! Use your Thunder attack!”

“Pika?” Pikachu tilted its head in confusion as it listened to its partner’s command.

“Thunder? His Pikachu won’t know Thunder! It’s only level 14!” Tony burst out impatiently and Bruce bit his lip anxiously.

_This is bad..._

Steve gazed at the proceedings with confusion. After how his friends had described a Pokémon match, the Captain had thought that the battle would be fierce and dangerous. It didn’t seem that way now though. Neither parties had moved for a few minutes; Pikachu had even taken to scratching its ear out of boredom while waiting for the next command. Steve had no idea what was happening, and from the look of things, neither did Thor. Tony took a look at the god’s muddled expression up on the platform before deciding that yes, this was indeed extremely painful and closed his eyes once more.

“Jarvis, help Thor with the list of moves his Pikachu would know at its current level.” Bruce said hurriedly. There was another few moments of silence as Thor stared dumbfounded at the screen of his Starkdex before looking up again.

“Pikachu, Thundershock?” The god ordered, less confidently this time. Pikachu perked up at the command it finally knew and jumped to its feet.

“Pika!” A weak shot of electricity burst from the electric mouse’s body towards the opponent’s Pidgeot, who dodged it easily. Tony groaned at the sight. Falkner, whom Tony had thought to be extremely generous for not finishing the battle immediately, appeared amused by the display. The gym leader then decided that it was about time to end the match.

“Pidgeot, Quick Attack!” Falkner ordered commandingly. Pidgeot gave a sharp croo and zoomed towards Pikachu so quickly that neither Thor nor Pikachu had the time to react. Before anyone could even gasp at its amazing speed, the huge bird had collided into Pikachu head-on, sending the smaller Pokémon flying and slamming against the gym wall.

Steve gasped in horror as he watched his friend’s Pikachu crash onto the ground into an unmoving heap. Tony slumped down resignedly into his seat while Bruce simply stared at the Pokémon with sympathy. _That_ had got to hurt.

Thor, however, appeared stunned for a moment as he gazed at his beloved Pokémon before his disbelief turned into an uncontrollable rage.

“HOW DARE YOU HURT PIKACHU!” The god bellowed as he summoned his Mjolnir into his hand with a crackle of electricity. Before Falkner could grasp the absurdity of the moment, Thor flew towards the Pidgeot, blue eyes flashing with rage, and slammed the Mjolnir heavily onto the bird’s back. Pidgeot gave a pained cry before crashing onto the ground and laying there, still as a corpse.

“Oh my god- Well fuck!” Tony panicked as he stared at the fainted Pidgeot and Falkner standing speechless and shocked on his platform. Thor, not realising the possible consequences of his actions, simply stood there glowering at the bird Pokémon, still furious that it had injured his Pikachu.  The billionaire turned to Bruce, who appeared equally stunned by the scene.

“Forget staying till the end of the battle! Let’s just get the hell out of here! Now!”

XXX

Loki fell off the rock he was sitting on quaking with laughter.

On the magical screen he had conjured up, a furious Falkner was now screaming for the security guards while Tony Stark was anxiously trying to convince some security personnel that no, him, Steve and Bruce had no idea who the crazy hammer-wielding caveman was.

“What is so funny?” A familiar voice asked and Loki turned around, barely managing to see Mewtwo floating through the entrance of the cave towards him with all the tears of mirth in his eyes.

“What is this?” Mewtwo’s question changed after he saw the magic screen. The Pokémon gazed at the screen in wonder and watched as some people on the screen appeared to be shouting and wrestling with a blonde haired man who was brandishing a hammer about wildly.

“Hmph- This is… hmph-” Loki chortled and sniggered as he watched the events on the screen, giving his host an incoherent answer. The god continued laughing for a few seconds before catching Mewtwo’s displeased gaze and straightening up. “I am sorry,” Loki apologised for his less than dignified behaviour. “This is a magical screen I have casted that allows me to view events occuring in faraway places. This particular amusing scene is taking place in Violet City’s gym.” The god added with another snicker.

“Magical screen,” Mewtwo repeated in amazement as he stared at the moving animations. “What move did you use to conjure that? I have yet to see a Pokémon use a move like this one.” Loki smirked at the hidden compliment.

“It’s not a move, my dear Mewtwo. It’s a complicated form of magic.” The god replied smugly. “I can teach you this skill if you wish.” Mewtwo appeared tempted by his offer before turning back to the screen.

“The humans on this screen,” The Pokémon paused for a moment as he watched the shorter, goateed man of the lot edge his way towards an angry looking blue-haired man. “Are they the friends you had spoken of in the past?” Loki grimaced at his words.

“I suppose you could say so.” The god replied sourly as he gazed at the screen. “In other terms of the word.”

“Then why aren’t you with them?” Mewtwo asked curiously and Loki bit back the instinct to turn and snap at the Pokémon. _He didn’t know better_ , the god reminded himself. _And I still need his help._

“We are not exactly _on good terms_ right now.” Loki forced a grin which Mewtwo did not believe.

“How could you be friends if you are not on good terms?” The Pokémon asked quizzically and frowned when Loki simply shrugged uncaringly. “You humans use the word ‘friends’ too freely.”

“I believe I had informed you that I am no human, Mewtwo.” Loki replied tartly and Mewtwo’s frown deepened. The Pokémon had pondered for some time now, but he could not quite grasp the concept. This man before him had claimed that he was not a human, but it was obvious that he was not a Pokémon either. He had powers equal to even Mewtwo himself, and yet, his physical form, his speech and his actions were those of a human’s. What was he?

“If you are not a human, nor Pokémon,” Mewtwo questioned, “Then what are you?” Loki gave a grin at the Pokémon’s queries.

“I am a god.” Loki replied smugly and puffed out his chest a little as he did so. Mewtwo, however, was not impressed.

“What is a god?” The Pokémon asked and Loki’s smugness visibly dampened. He stared at Mewtwo incredulously for a moment before remembering that there were no gods in the Pokémon world, only legendaries and one being called Arceus which created the world. This Arceus was basically the Pokémon version of the All Father, and Loki was currently talking to a legendary himself. Loki idly wondered how he should go about explaining this to Mewtwo.

“A god is-” Loki started awkwardly, “is- a superior being.”

“A superior being?” Mewtwo repeated sceptically. “In what ways, Loki of Asgard?”

“Loki.” Loki corrected the Pokémon impatiently. “Just call me Loki.” He continued to Mewtwo’s questioning look. “Superior in many ways, Mewtwo. Powers, abilities, potential, ambition.” The god said pompously and Mewtwo appeared unconvinced by the answer.

“You think yourself better than the other humans?” Mewtwo asked and frowned at the thought. “Do pardon me, Loki-,” The Pokémon paused for a moment, as though trying out the new name. “Pardon me, but with the exception of your powers, I sense nothing different in you from the other humans. I do not understand how that is being superior.” Loki gaped at his answer before his speechlessness turned to indignation.

“How could you not understand?” The god protested as he glared at the Pokémon. “Think of yourself compared to the other Pokémon. You are considered a legendary by others! Are you not superior to them as well?”

Mewtwo gazed sternly back at his guest.

“I surpass the others only in power, nothing more than that.” The Pokémon said conclusively and thoughts of his past, Mew and the humans he had met flashed again in his mind. “But power does not necessarily equate superiority.”

Before Loki could argue any further, he was interrupted by loud anxious cries as Pikachu and Meowth came scampering into the cave.

“Pika pika pika pi-!”

“Meow! Meow! Meowth!”

Loki winced at the racket and Mewtwo raised his hands in a gesture for silence. The two Pokémon quieted down immediately.

“One at a time.” The legendary Pokémon ordered and Pikachu and Meowth gazed at each other before Pikachu spoke up. Mewtwo listened attentively to his friend’s anxious rambling.

“A new Pokémon had arrived in our midst?” Mewtwo asked finally and Pikachu nodded fervently.

“Pika pi!”

“And he is injured?”

“Pika!”

Without another word, Mewtwo flew out of the cave and Pikachu and Meowth exchanged glances once more before scurrying after their leader. Loki was left alone in the cave, scowling as Mewtwo’s words echoed in his head: _Power does not necessarily equate superiority._

The god shot one final resentful glance at his magic screen, where Tony now had his arms around Falkner’s shoulders and was gabbing away, before vanishing the screen with a wave of his hand. He then stood up, delicately brushed the dust off his armour and strolled out of the cave, curious to see what all the commotion was about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The new wounded Pokémon at the end of the chapter is going to be Loki's partner, not Mewtwo. Mewtwo is an awesome friend and counselor, but he is not likely to go around creating mischief with Loki. Can you guess what Pokémon that is? Hint: He has one of Loki's signature abilities.
> 
> Next Chapter: Loki's new partner! Pikachu's little lightning lesson! Appearance of Jessie, James and Meowth!
> 
> Stay tuned!


	8. Surprises Galore!

When Loki reached where the supposedly injured Pokémon was, a large circle of resident Pokémon had formed. It took a while for the god to squeeze and edge his way through the noisy chattering crowd before he made it to the centre of the circle where Mewtwo already was. Pikachu and Meowth flustered around a tiny, stirring Pokémon while Mewtwo stared down at the sight of this injured Pokémon who had intruded into their home. Loki gave a tiny frown.

Despite having done some research about the world of Pokémon and its inhabitants, the god could not quite safely say that he knew everything about it yet. Having focused most of his research on Mewtwo, there were bound to be some Pokémon that he had missed out on and apparently, this injured Pokémon was one of them. The Pokémon in question resembled a tiny black fox with red tufts of fur on its head and paws.

"What is this Pokémon?" Loki murmured to himself in curiosity and Mewtwo spared him a brief glance before turning his attention back to the injured fox-like Pokémon.

"We have no idea," Mewtwo answered grimly, "but it is essential that we heal our new guest before any further questions." A worried look then flickered across the legendary Pokémon's face. "It would be best if we could bring it to the healing springs immediately, but I have moved the springs underground previously due to circumstances and there is no quick way to access it..."

"Allow me." Loki offered as he stepped up to the anxious group of Pokémon. After all, the god was all for gaining Mewtwo's trust and friendship, and being presented with this brilliant opportunity to do so, there was no reason for him to stand idly by. Seeing the questioning look Mewtwo gave him, Loki continued in explaining. "I may be able to heal him."

"You are adept at using the move 'Heal Pulse'?" Mewtwo inquired and Loki gave an amused smirk.

"Not quite, my dear Mewtwo. Close... but not quite." The god drawled smugly before kneeling down on one knee in front of the injured Pokémon. Soon, swirls of green surrounded Loki's fingers as he closed his eyes in concentration on working his magic, healing the wounded Pokémon while Mewtwo and the others watched with interest.

XXX

"He smashed his hammer on Falkner's Pidgeot?" Clint gasped in disbelief before doubling over in laughter. Natasha scowled at the childishness of her partner before turning back to Tony and Bruce, who were wearing similar grins of amusement on their faces.

It had not seemed that funny hours ago, mind you, when the four Avengers were surrounded by burly security personnel and a furious gym leader who seemed dangerously close to the intent of murder. It took all of Tony's persuasive powers, along with Bruce and Steve's help to convince the men, as well as Officer Jenny, who had arrived to calm the scene, that their friend Thor was simply a new Pokémon trainer, or a noob (as Tony put it), who hadn't a clue on how Pokémon matches worked. After Falkner's anger was finally quelled, the blue haired man had allowed them to leave his gym with a warning that Tony, Steve and Bruce had better keep an eye on their lunatic friend in the future. Steve politely assured him that they would, while Bruce dragged Tony away from flirting with a bemused Officer Jenny. The group then left the place as quickly as their legs could take them and headed immediately to the Pokémon centre.

"Couldn't you three have stopped him?" Natasha asked irritably as a couple of Chanseys blustered past them. Pikachu was rushed into an emergency room the moment they had reached and the electric mouse had been in there for over an hour now. An extremely hysterical Thor was stopped by Nurse Joy from following his beloved Pokémon into the room, much to his dismay, and the flustered god had now taken to pacing outside the emergency room furiously while Steve attempted to calm him down.

"I'd love to see  _you_ try." Tony snorted sceptically and Natasha's eyes narrowed.

"Perhaps a similar scenario would help you imagine the situation better: Tony, lab, mania." Bruce added wryly and despite all her misgivings, Natasha couldn't help but give a tiny grin at the comparison. Tony did not seem as amused.

"Bruce, you wound me." The billionaire pouted as he placed his hand over his chest in a mock sign of hurt at his friend's betrayal. Bruce grinned, but before he could reply, the lighted sign outside the emergency room went off with a soft 'ding' and the doors slid open. Thor, along with Steve, rushed anxiously to the entrance as Nurse Joy and a Chansey wheeled the unconscious Pikachu out.

"Your Pikachu will be just fine." Nurse Joy smiled at Thor kindly, soothing the anxious god. "He just needs a little rest." Thor nodded and sadly eyed the long tubes that connected his Pikachu to a drip. As Nurse Joy wheeled Pikachu away to a ward, Steve placed his hand comfortingly on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry pal," Steve said. "Pikachu will be okay. Tony mentioned before that Pokémon recover very quickly."

"That's right." Tony confirmed as he suddenly appeared next to Steve. "At least they do, if Nintendo hadn't been exaggerating things again." Thor looked immensely worried once more by the billionaire's words and Steve glared at Tony for his overwhelming lack of tact.

"What?" Tony exclaimed after seeing the look Steve gave him. "They  _do_  only take a few seconds to heal in the games and cartoons!"

"Anime." Bruce corrected dryly and it was now Tony's turn to glare at him in disbelief.

"You are supposed to be on my side Brucie." Tony sulked. The physicist simply gave another one of his wry smiles and shrugged before following Steve and Thor into Pikachu's ward.

XXX

As it turned out, Nintendo didn't exaggerate, well, not too much at least. Pikachu was up and chirpy by the next day and Nurse Joy soon deemed it healthy enough to leave the ward.

After thanking her, assuring that they would take better care of their Pokémon and inquiring if she was the prettiest one in her family ( _they did have a 'playboy' amongst their midst_ ), the Avengers left the Pokémon Centre and made their way to Route 32 further down Violet City to train their Pokémon.

Thor had already been 'Poké-broken' by then, courtesy to Tony and Bruce. The god now understood, or at least claimed to understand the fact that you do not simply bash up other people's Pokémon after they won a battle against yours. Therefore, as the Avengers themselves were not allowed to enter the battle field and smash their opponents' Pokémon with hammers, Tony insisted that they would all need to train up their Pokémon if they ever wanted to win a badge. Even if their Pokémon did not level up much, the genius reasoned that it was important for them to get used to the feel of battling and coordinating their commands and moves at the very least.

It was for this very reason that Bruce and Thor, along with their partners, were now standing across and staring at each other awkwardly on a clear patch of grass.

"Remind me again why we're doing this." Bruce sighed in exasperation as he turned to Tony, who was standing a safe distance by the side.

"Number one: Battling is the best way for our Pokémon to gain experience and level up. Number two: Thor's Pikachu actually stands the highest chance against Falkner's flying types, so we're gonna focus on its training first." Tony replied matter-of-factly. "Number three: Your Mankey is at level 14, the same level as Thor's Pikachu; it will be easier for Pikachu to train. That,  _and_  the fact that no one else here is cooperating." The genius finished with a displeased glare at the rest of the Avengers, and his own Pawniard, who were standing by idly and decidedly ignoring him.

Bruce sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't think this is going to end well, Tony." The scientist said at last. Tony simply flashed him another grin.

"No worries pal, this is my plan. My plans never go wrong. You are safe here." Tony replied cheerily and Bruce resisted the urge to close his eyes and start counting his numbers again.

"Yeah go Doc! Show Thor what you're made of!" Clint cheered loudly and Natasha rolled her eyes at her partner's actions. Thor, who was already pumped up and eager for the match despite his earlier setback, became even more fired up by the archer's words.

"I shall not hold back, my friend!" The god announced with conviction and Pikachu confidently echoed his partner's sentiment with sparks flying from its cheeks. Bruce could feel an impending headache.

"Well this is... jolly." The scientist murmured bemusedly to himself and turned to the Mankey clinging around his neck. "Do you want to do this? We don't have to if you don't, you know." Mankey gazed at Bruce intently for a moment before flashing him an assuring grin and leaping onto the ground to face his opponent.

"You sure about this?" Bruce called out anxiously once more and Mankey simply bounced on the spot and gave what the man interpreted to be a few enthusiastic nods. "Okay then," Bruce mumbled and whipped out his Starkdex. "Jarvis, show me the list of possible moves Mankey would know."

"Right away Doctor Banner," The AI replied and a list of attack moves promptly appeared on the screen. Bruce scanned the list quickly, learning the moves by heart in order to better aid him and his Mankey in future battles.

"We're going to need to a referee for this," Tony remembered suddenly. The man then turned to Steve, who was standing next to him with his Ralts in his arms. ( _Goodness! Does he ever put his Pokémon down?_ ) "Will you referee the match, Cap?" Steve turned to glance at him sternly.

"You know I don't approve of Pokémon battling." The super soldier replied shortly.

"But you are supposed to be the fair and just one." Tony pointed out in protest and Steve chose to ignore him, striding off to stand near Clint and Natasha. "Fine then, be that way, Grinch!" Tony called out after the Captain's back. "I will be the referee." The billionaire then turned to Bruce and Thor.

"Alright guys, this is a one on one Pokémon match. And it starts... now!"

"Pikachu, use your Thundershock!" Thor exclaimed immediately after the announcement and Pikachu perked up, firing a shock of electricity towards Mankey.

"Dodge it Mankey!" Bruce called out hurriedly and sighed with relief when his Mankey jumped and avoided the attack entirely. It seems like battling was not as easy or carefree as they made it seem in the anime. The pressure of his Pokémon's welfare now bore down heavily on the man's shoulders. Mankey had trusted him enough to participate in the battle and he was responsible for every attack or injury that the Pokémon may receive. Bruce felt like a bundle of nerves now, and it wasn't exactly a good thing... not for him.

"Mankey! Use Fury Swipes!" Bruce ordered and Mankey nodded before pouncing at Pikachu swiftly. "Be careful!" The scientist called out nervously before he could help himself and then felt self-conscious immediately when he heard Tony give a snicker at the side. "Well, Pikachu's electricity  _is_ dangerous." Bruce muttered quietly to himself as he focused his attention on the match.

Mankey gave a loud screech as it swiped viciously at Pikachu. The electric mouse was a tad too slow in avoiding the attack and Mankey's claws scraped across its side hard, causing a pained cry from the mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu, evade the enemy! Evade!" Thor yelled out, fidgeting about restlessly as he watched his Pikachu try to avoid Mankey's attacks and knowing that he could not step in and help out. Bruce watched his opponent's increasing anxiety with sympathy. He knew what it felt like. Luckily for the poor god, Pikachu managed to leap aside and successfully dodge Mankey's fourth strike. Seeing that his Pokémon was now out of trouble, Thor relaxed visibly and his confidence returned.

"Pikachu! Use your Thundershock attack again!" The god ordered and Pikachu appeared more ready this time.

"Pikachu!" The Pokémon cried out sharply and fired a stronger surge of electricity at Mankey. However, Mankey, agile as ever, managed to leap out of the way again. Pikachu did not appear fazed though. The electric mouse continued firing off blasts of electricity with Thor's egging on and encouragement and Mankey soon found it harder to avoid the attacks.

Tony watched the proceeding match with awe.

"Wow. Electrifying." The genius murmured and Pawniard, who was beside him and carrying the suit, gave a nod of agreement.

Bruce gritted his teeth as a Thundershock attack narrowly missed Mankey by a few mere inches. This was bad. It was fucking bad. And there was nothing he could do about it. He quickly ran past all of Mankey's possible moves once more and bit his lip in frustration when he could not think of a single damned plan on how his Pokémon could evade his opponent's moves and attacks next. Pikachu was a far ranged attacker with its electric moves and there was currently no possible way for Mankey to advance without getting hit. The scientist felt his heart racing and immediately started employing the anger management techniques he had learnt to calm himself down.

_It won't do anyone any good to Hulk out now; No Hulking out... No._

It was at this very moment when Bruce was distracted that one of Pikachu's Thundershocks scored. The burst of electricity hit its target dead centre and Mankey gave a pained cry before going limp. Thor punched the air triumphantly, forgetting in his excitement that it was his teammate's Pokémon that was hurt while Bruce gazed at his Pokémon in horror.

"Hey, are you alright?" Bruce asked anxiously. There was no response. Just as Bruce was about to make Tony declare the end of the match and go over to scoop Mankey up into his arms, the Pokémon suddenly started to shudder uncontrollably. Everyone stared at the shaking Pokémon with a mix of curiosity and trepidation, and Bruce felt an unexplainable shiver up his spine. "Mankey?" The scientist took a hesitant step towards Mankey, stopping immediately when a soft curdling growl emitted from his Pokémon. The very next moment, Mankey's entire body tensed up and its fur stood on its end. The Pokémon's head snapped up and Tony caught a glimpse of the murderous gleam in its now glowing eyes.  _Uh oh._

Pikachu noticed the sudden change in air about its opponent as well, and its ears stiffened a little in wariness of what's to follow.

"Mankeyyyy!" The pig-monkey Pokémon gave a sharp ear-piercing screech as it pounced ferociously at Pikachu. Pikachu took one glance at the intimidating look on its opponent's face before jumping up and bolting off, fleeing from the rampaging Mankey for dear life.

Everyone, including Bruce and Thor, gaped at the unexpected turn of events, at a loss of what to say or do.

"So... Should I announce the end of the match?" Tony asked uncertainly as they watched the raging Mankey pursue Thor's frightened Pikachu relentlessly. Bruce's Starkdex beeped and the scientist took it out of his pocket while he was still in his state of shock.

"When Mankey starts to thrash in its rage, stopping it is impossible." Jarvis piped up helpfully.

XXX

Loki was just sitting alone in his cave when this happened. He didn't know what he had done to deserve this. He had been relatively well-behaved recently; he had healed the little fox Pokémon earlier and he hadn't done anything that might incur the ire of Mewtwo or any other Pokémon on Mount Quena. Yes, Loki had done nothing wrong; all he wanted was some peace and quiet to plan his evil plans and yet, a stray Hoppip had somehow floated into his little lair and just wouldn't leave him be!

"Shoo!" The god waved at the leafy Pokémon irritably and glared as it simply kept smiling at him with that usual dopey face. Don't its face muscles  _ever_ get tired?

_Perhaps I should just ignore it._

Loki gave a huff and turned away from the Pokémon, treating it as though it was a fly. All went well for three seconds until the Hoppip floated next him and brushed his face with the leaves on its head. Loki gave a hiss of frustration as he leapt up and glared at the Pokémon. How was he supposed to think like this? How was he supposed to concentrate when the damned creature would not even let him ignore it?

"Be off with you! You pesky little creature! Shoo!" Loki snapped at the Hoppip again but it seemed unaffected by the god's venomous looks. The Hoppip kept giving him that stupid smile as it floated around him and at the very next moment without any further warning, poofed and turned into a Lickilicky larger than Loki himself.

"Wha-?!" The god gaped at the sudden transformation of his tormenter and was so stunned that he didn't start to move until the ex-Hoppip-now-Lickilicky gave him a lick on the face. Loki stumbled backwards in disgust and glared at the grinning Pokémon in disbelief.

"How dare you?!" Loki snarled as he rubbed his cheek. "That was absolutely repulsive! Have you no manners?" The god then retreated quickly as the Lickilicky took a step towards him and reached its tongue out eagerly once more. "No! You vile creature! Stand down!"

Without another sound, the ex-Hoppip-now-Lickilicky vanished and now, standing in its place, was a tiny Mime. Jr.

"What the-?!" Loki stared in shock at the ex-Hoppip-ex-Lickilicky-now-Mime. Jr and the Pokémon gave him a similar look of shock back. "What in the name of Odin are y-" Loki started as he stepped closer to the now less threatening Pokémon and Mime. Jr made a face similar to his as it followed his actions.

"Why are you giving me that look?" Loki asked warily as he took a step back and Mime. Jr did the same. "I do not care what monstrosity you are, leave immediately!" Loki ordered fiercely and pointed towards the entrance of the cave.

"Mime! Mime!" Mime. Jr gave an angry look of its own and pointed past Loki to the back of the cave. The god bristled with indignation at the nerve of the creature. How dare it order him around?!

"Listen, you little pest! Leave!" Loki snarled, having lost his patience and advanced menacingly on the tiny Pokémon. However, Mime. Jr simply made similar snarling noises and stepped towards the god, not intimidated in the slightest. Loki stared in disbelief at the Pokémon's strange actions before a sudden, unbelievable thought occurred to him.

"Wait. Are you... mimicking me?"

"Loki of Asgard." A voice called and Loki glanced up wearily to see Mewtwo flying into the cave. "I see that you have met our new friend, Zorua."

"Zorua?" Loki frowned in confusion. Mewtwo nodded and the Mime. Jr next to him gave a grin before morphing into the tiny black fox Loki had healed earlier. Loki almost choked at the revelation.

"You!" The god sputtered as he glared at the grinning Zorua, who made a sound that seemed suspiciously like a laugh. Mewtwo watched the exchange with a puzzled frown before continuing.

"Zorua had wanted to thank you for healing him, Loki." The legendary Pokémon informed the god and Loki gave a snort of disgust.

"Well, I must say he has a  _unique_  way of showing his appreciation." Loki scowled and Mewtwo soon decided that it was best to leave the two alone as the god glowered at the smug, sniggering Zorua.

XXX

It took  _ages_  for them to calm Mankey down. Not Nintendo exaggerated 'ages', but really...  _ages_.

"You know, I know a few techniques that could help you manage that anger effectively." Bruce told his now back-to-normal cheerful Mankey as it sat on his lap happily. Pikachu, on the other hand, had bounded onto Thor's head at the very first opportunity it had and stayed there, casting wary glances at Mankey.

" _That_  was an exhilarating match..." Tony muttered as he stared at the Mankey on Bruce's lap wearily. "And I hope it produced some results, for our Pikachu levelling plan that is." The billionaire whipped out his Starkdex and pointed it at Pikachu. "Jarv, levels?"

"Pikachu's level: 14." Jarvis replied calmly and Tony grimaced before pointing it at Mankey. "Mankey's level: 15."

"Great." Tony groaned as he pocketed his Starkdex and sank onto the ground in resignation.

"Told you it was a bad idea," Bruce mumbled almost apologetically and Clint snickered at the sight of Tony's distress.

"Isn't there a way to level our Pokémon without battling?" Steve piped up suddenly. "I mean, battling can't be the only way to help our Pokémon improve, can it? It's just so violent." The Captain ended unhappily and Tony was just about to retort about how  _violent_  Steve can get with his shield when Bruce gave a click of his fingers.

"That's it!" The scientist exclaimed as Steve's words struck a possibility in his head. "There may be a way to train our Pokémon's attacks without battling." Tony frowned at his words.

"So how do you propose they get experience without battling, Bruce?" The billionaire inquired and Bruce shook his head.

"Not experience points, Tony. We are in the actual Pokémon world now, not playing a game on consoles." Bruce explained and apprehension dawned on Tony.

"Like the cartoons." Tony muttered softly and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Like I've always said, you are a genius Brucie!"

"May we join in on the big genius discovery?" Clint asked sarcastically and Tony turned to grin at him.

"We are going to hone the moves of our Pokémon, Birdy. Like Bruce had said, we are in an actual world now, not a game. There has to be ways to power up our Pokémon instead of battling. Cap was right." Tony turned to give Steve a pat on the shoulder. "Good job old man, you raised yourself a few bars on my intelligence meter." The billionaire turned back to the group before continuing. "Just like how it has been occasionally shown in the cartoons, a Pokémon's attack moves can be strengthened if practised over time. If we focused on honing our Pokémon's moves, the stronger attacks will aid them in battles!"

"Wait, I didn't say that I approved of-" Steve started anxiously but was cut off by an enthusiastic Tony.

"Come on pal!" Tony beamed as he turned to Thor. "Fire up your hammer. We are gonna give your Pikachu a lesson about lightning."

XXX

Team Rocket munched noisily on their food as they sat on a raised cliff in the woods near Violet City.

"Mmmhmm! This sashimi is good!" James proclaimed happily as he took another piece and Jessie, who was sitting next to him, gave him a whack on the head.

"Don't eat it all, you imbecile! Leave some for us!" The red-haired woman scoffed as she grabbed two slices of the sashimi with her chopsticks.

"Hey! You're not being fair!" James protested in indignation and Meowth shook his head at the squabbling duo.

 _Humans._ The cat-like Pokémon thought condescendingly.  _Figures._  He then reached out for another piece of fish before realising with horror that it was  _all gone_.

"Meowth! You two finished all the food?" Meowth jumped up in rage as Jessie and James turned to stare at him sheepishly.

"You could always go and buy some more." James suggested meekly and Meowth glared at him before pouncing on the man and hitting him repeatedly on the head.

"Buy some more? Meowth! Why don't  _you_  go and buy some more?!"

"Ow! Hey! That hurt!"

"Quiet you two!" Jessie snapped irritably. "Or you'll scare the twerps away." Meowth stopped assaulting James promptly and both of them joined Jessie in peeking over the edge of the cliff to where Ash and friends were, sitting around their own camp fire.

The trio then heaved a simultaneous sigh as they slumped back to their original camp spot. Team Rocket had tailed their target for ages now, all the way back to Johto after the annoying twerp had received a call from some Professor and decided to head back for a visit. After the long and tedious journey, 'tired' was not an adequate adjective to describe the usually devious trio. They were dog-tired.

"Hey! Have you guys heard about the recent news?" James perked up suddenly and Jessie and Meowth turned to him with confused frowns on their faces.

"What news?" Jessie asked cynically. "You got yourself a Magikarp again?" She and Meowth then exchanged sniggering looks at James' affronted expression.

"No!" James retorted scathingly. "Butch and Cassidy got into some serious trouble with the boss." The man continued and grinned at the surprised looks on his team mates' faces.

"What? How?" Jessie asked and there was no mistaking the tone of glee in her voice. James smirked.

"Apparently they lost the rare Pokémon they were supposed to ship to the boss from Unova. The boss wasn't pleased." James drawled and Jessie broke out into a peal of evil laughter.

"Ah hahaha! Those fools had it coming!" The woman cackled happily. "Perhaps now the boss will see them for the useless tools they are and leave the serious tasks to us!"

"That's right!" James swelled up with importance. "After we succeed in our mission of capturing that pesky Pikachu and presenting it to the boss, we will get promoted!" The blue haired man exclaimed, pulling out a rose from god-knows-where with a flourish. "Pay raises and personal offices! Standing by the boss as his most trusted right-hand men as the others kneel and bow before us! It will be fabulous!" Both he and Jessie erupted into a bout of maniac laughter.

"Yeah... Great plan." Meowth piped up sarcastically. "But we can't exactly capture Pikachu when I'm the only Pokémon on the team, can we?"

Jessie and James' laughter ceased as the duo sobered down and exchanged doleful looks. Right, how could they forget? They had sent their Pokémon to the latest and most vigorous Team Rocket training programme recently. It was supposed to toughen up their Pokémon for future confrontations with the twerps. It was a splendid plan, a splendid move, except one tiny catch. Team Rocket can't even confront the twerps when their Pokémon were not returned to them yet.

The trio sank back onto the ground with a sigh. When were their Pokémon going to be delivered back to them? It had been ages!

"You don't think Delibird got lost on his way to us, do you?" James asked wearily as he gazed out to the sky, as though expecting a red and white speck to approach them any moment.

"How would I know? Idiot." Jessie snorted as she slumped next to him. James sighed again as he gazed around the woods.

"You know, now that we are back in Johto again, I had been thinking of... some past memories." The man mumbled and Jessie gave him a curious look.

"What memories?" The woman asked and James shrugged.

"Oh, you know, of... Weezing. And Arbok." The man added when he saw his partner's expression soften. "We released them here, remember?" Jessie nodded mutely and there were visible tears in her eyes. There was then a moment of silence as both of them stared at each other sorrowfully. Neither noticed the faint rustling of grass nearby.

"I still remember when Arbok was given to me as an Ekans on my birthday!" Jessie sobbed as she clung to James, who nodded fervently.

*rustle rustle*

"And I remember when Weezing was just a wee little Koffing!" The man wept and buried his face in Jessie's hair.

*rustle rustle*

"Oh! Our darlings! I wonder how they are doing now! Will they miss us? Do they miss us?!" The duo cried as Meowth stared at them incredulously.

*rustle rustle rustle*

"Er guys!" Meowth began nervously. "I hate to break it to ya in your time of grief, but there seems to be someone approaching!" Jessie and James stopped their moaning and trio listened with increasing fear for a moment as that 'something' seemed to be getting nearer and nearer. Before their nerves gave way and caused them to flee as fast as humanly possible, two large Pokémon that they were too familiar with jumped out of the grass. Jessie and James stared at the Pokémon in shock before coming to their senses.

"Arbok?"

"Weezing?"

"My darling!"

Meowth watched as both his friends rushed towards their Pokémon and enveloped them with hugs, tears of happiness streaking down their cheeks. Heck, he could feel touched tears welling up in his eyes as well!

After cooing at their Pokémon for almost an hour, Jessie and James were finally ready to stop clinging onto Arbok and Weezing to have a nice catch-up session.

"Yea, it's nice to see you guys again." Meowth chuckled amiably to Arbok and Weezing and the huge snake replied with a grin and a lick on the cat's face. "So how did you guys find us?" Arbok gave a low hiss and Meowth nodded. "Oh I see."

"What did Arbok say, Meowth?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Well, he said that they were around the area when they caught our scent and followed us here." Meowth explained and Jessie and James immediately teared up again.

"You remembered us? After such a long time?" James choked as a flurry of emotions flooded his heart and Weezing floated closer to him to comfort his partner.

"Wee-e-zing." The poison-gas Pokémon said and Meowth's brows rose.

"You said you want to journey with us again?"

"Cha-bak-kap!" Arbok nodded.

"You too?!"

"Do you really mean it?" Jessie stared at her Arbok tearfully. "Oh! My baby!" The woman then proceeded to hug Arbok tightly again.

"Wee-e-zing!" Weezing spoke and Meowth nodded knowingly.

"Ah I see. So the packs of Ekans and Koffing you two lead have grown sufficiently independent by themselves now, so you guys can return to us." Arbok and Weezing nodded fervently to Meowth's explanation.

"Oh Weezing!"

"Arbok! My darling!"

The fussing and molly-coddling continued to a point where Meowth finally felt a little bored and  _left out_ , so the cat Pokémon decided to make himself useful and check on the twerps again. The results were not pretty.

"Guys! The twerps are gone!"

Jessie and James startled out of their giddy modes and rushed to Meowth's side, staring at the empty and abandoned camp site where the twerps were supposed to be.

"Oh no!"

"Where did they go?!"

Team Rocket gazed about frantically before a sudden strike of lightning down in the far distance caught their eye. The trio gazed at each other thoughtfully before coming to a single triumphant conclusion of "Pikachu!" and rushing to pack their things.

Halfway through, James suddenly paused and gave a thoughtful look.

"Wait. How did the twerps manage to travel that much of a distance in such a short time?" The man wondered aloud. However, his thoughts were soon interrupted as Jessie and Meowth grabbed his arms tightly and wrenched him along with them.

"Come on idiot! You're wasting time!"

"Yeah! We got a Pikachu to catch!"

Jessie and Meowth exchange evil grins.

"And this time, we'll get that Pikachu! Muahahahahaha!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if anyone caught the reference to The Incredible Hulk 2008 that I added in for this chapter. Something Bruce said to Betty... hehe. It had been my favorite part for the movie.
> 
> So did I capture Team Rocket's characters properly? I hope I did. Their voices were echoing in my head for every single line I typed for them. I could even imagine the rainbows and sparkles that erupted from no where behind James as he planned his evil plan!
> 
> Next Chapter:
> 
> "Wait! Is that Pikachu even more powerful than the twerp's Pikachu?!"
> 
> "We must capture it!"
> 
> ...
> 
> Stay tuned!


	9. New Enemies

"Hey watch it!" Tony yelled as another Thundershock attack misfired and struck the tree just beside him, eight and a half inches too close for his liking. Pawniard snarled a ton of what can be assumed to be obscenities in Pokémon language and leapt even further away than his human partner did, grasping the Iron Man suitcase defensively as though scared that it might become the next unfortunate target of Pikachu's wayward shots.

"No, no Pikachu!" Thor chided, shaking his head at his Pikachu's failed attacks. "You need to focus, and gather your power onto one area, like this-" The god raised his Mjolnir up majestically towards the sky and the low rumbling of thunder sounded overhead. Pikachu's eyes widened as a deafening crack echoed and a blinding streak of lightning cut across the air towards the ground, landing on and blasting a nearby boulder to bits.

"I thought rock types are resistant to electricity..." Clint muttered, his Yanma buzzing even more noisily on his head than usual after having witnessed the amazing display. Beside him, Natasha was similarly trying to calm her frantic Torchic down.

"Who the hell cares, Barton?!" She snapped irritably, doing her best to stop the squealing frightened chick from squirming against her calves.

Thor grinned with pride at his success, and gazed down at Pikachu, who seemed impressed and even more pumped up than ever.

"Your turn!" He laughed and Pikachu gave a curt nod before closing its eyes in concentration.

"Pika-CHUUU!"

The bright bolt of electricity zipped across the air and struck the tree nearest to Tony once more, this time powerful enough to snap a thick, heavy branch right off.

"Will you fucking stop aiming it here?!" Tony shouted angrily, sweeping some fallen leaves from his head and shoulders with a tad more force than necessary.

"Pawniard!" Pawniard agreed with an evil glare trained on Pikachu. However, Thor and Pikachu seemed too engrossed with their training to even notice their team mates' protests.

"Thor! Use your lightning on Pikachu!" Bruce called out suddenly, standing a considerably safer  _and_  wiser distance away from the thunder-happy duo, as compared to Tony. Beside him, Steve, who was still coddling the terrified Ralts in his arms, gave a puzzled frown.

"You want him to- what?" The Captain asked, wondering if he had heard his friend correctly. "Wouldn't that... hurt Pikachu?" He continued, giving Bruce an uncertain look.

Bruce simply chuckled, ignoring his Mankey which had now climbed up onto his head, gabbing in a fit of excitement at the spectacle. "You already know that Pokémon are special creatures with different unique abilities, right?" He asked and Steve nodded. "Well, one of Pikachu's abilities is to be able to absorb electricity and use it to charge up its attacks."

"Ah, I see." Steve muttered softly after hearing his friend's explanation and turned back to view the training session once more. This was a scene new to the Captain and deep down, as much as he disapproved of Pokémon battling, he must admit that the training process fascinated him.  _To think that Pokémon would possess such incredible and devastating powers_ , he thought quietly to himself. Slowly, his gaze turned from the zealous Thor and Pikachu, down to the warm, tiny creature shivering in his arms.

_I wonder if Riley has abilities as powerful as that..._

"That's right Point Break!" Tony exclaimed excitedly at the idea. Seeing Thor's bewildered expression, he sighed. "You remember our past fight in that forest, when you aimed a shock of electricity at me and I used it to charge up the suit for a counter blast?" He asked impatiently and Thor gave him a blank stare before a look of comprehension dawned on his face.

"Oh! You mean-?"

"That's right Bright Spark," Tony replied, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Your tiny mouse can do that as well."

Thor turned to his Pikachu, eyes shining brightly at the thought. "You ready for this?" He asked and Pikachu gave him a grin and thumbs up of confidence. With that, the Thunder god lifted his Mjolnir up high once more and summoned another streak of electricity, this time directing it towards his Pikachu.

"Pika!" A sharp cry escaped from the Pokémon's throat as the lightning struck it and powerful volts of electricity surged through its body. All, of the Avengers, including Thor, watched with a mix of amazement and apprehension as the electric mouse's body convulsed with the overwhelming energy before finally stiffening and breaking out of the current in a shower of bright white sparks.

"Pika- Pika!" The loud cry soon after hardly served as an adequate warning when an enormous blast of electricity erupted from Pikachu's body, surrounding them in a flash of blinding light. Tony gave a panicked shout and stumbled backwards, blocking his eyes from the painful glare and only managing to hear similar yells and screeches of shock from his Pawniard as well as Clint, Natasha and their Pokémon partners. Bruce and Steve, he quickly assumed to be okay since the two chickens were hiding much further away than they were. Poor Thor though.

It took a long while for the smoke from the explosion to clear, but when it finally did, spiralling up into the air in wisps of grey, Tony managed to spot a humongous crater formed on the once grassy plain, its green flora now reduced to no more than scorches of burnt black ash. Pikachu was standing on all fours in the middle, ears and tail perked up high in alarm and staring around the damage it had done with a look of utmost surprise. It was apparent that it had never unleashed an attack of this intensity before.

"Is Thor alright?!" Steve cried out in concern as he ran up to Tony's side, looking about frantically for their team mate. Tony gave a curt nod.

"See for yourself." He pointed out to the Captain, whose gaze immediately followed the direction the man referred to. Soon enough, he managed to spot Thor, dazed and backed up against a tree, which he had obviously smashed into when he had been blasted away by the explosion, armour slightly smoking and wavy blonde hair singed at the ends.

"Well, this wasn't... what I had expected." Bruce mumbled sheepishly as he too, walked up to Tony's side, only daring to step closer to the scene once he was certain another explosion wasn't about to happen. On his shoulders, Mankey gave a tiny whimper and hid contemplatively behind his head, peeking out occasionally to assess the damage.

Thor gave a low groan as he snapped out of his stunned stupor and stumbled forwards, detaching himself from the trunk of the tree and struggling to maintain his balance. He turned to Pikachu with a look of shock, and the yellow mouse's ears drooped guiltily when it saw the damage it had done to his friend. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Thor finally opened his mouth to speak and Pikachu flinched a little at the impending yells of anger it was sure it would receive.

"That. Was. FANTASTIC!" Thor boomed suddenly, surprising everyone with his loud cheerful laughter and rushing forward in glee to give his Pokémon a breathtaking hug. Pikachu struggled frantically for a moment against the tight grip of its partner before finally giving in and accepting the affection given to it.

"Pika, pika!" It said cheerily, reaching out and giving the god a pat on the head.

Tony laughed with amusement and turned to the rest of his team mates, who appeared similarly stunned by this sudden change in atmosphere. "Pretty amazing stuff eh, everyone?" The genius chuckled and turned to Bruce, who was still gaping at the scene. "And as always, brilliant idea pal!" He grinned, slapping the scientist amiably on the back.

XXX

"Did you see what I just saw?" Meowth purred as he continued gazing through his binoculars at the strange looking group of people with their Pokémon standing in the middle of a huge smoking crater. Two of them were dancing about in glee, the wavy, blonde haired one and the one with the goatee, while the others were watching by the side, some grinning while some rolled their eyes.

" _That_ was incredible!" James exclaimed, peering through his own set of binoculars.

"Incredible?" Jessie snorted, her own sights from her binoculars fixed on the peculiar group. "Oh please,  _that_  was unbelievable!"

Team Rocket continued watching the group for a moment. They observed as the big blonde one swung his Pikachu about triumphantly in the air and the goateed one chattered excitedly to the scruffy looking man with a Mankey clinging around his neck. Jessie chuckled to herself when she saw the red-haired woman smacking another man on his head for seemingly laughing too much, causing the Yanma perched on top to spiral away in shock. That's what she loved to do to James too; men needed constant reeling in. Finally, another tall, muscular, and god damned gorgeous ( _Jessie swooned_ ) blonde man called them together and they gathered around for what seemed to be a serious discussion. Well, there's that. Team Rocket put down their binoculars and gathered for a discussion of their own as well.

"That Pikachu's electric attack was breathtaking!" Jessie declared, her companions nodding fervently in agreement to her statement.

"Indeed!" James replied enthusiastically. "I've never seen such power! Well, perhaps only from the twerp's Pikachu." The man admitted sheepishly. Meowth gave him a condescending laugh.

"Ha! Who cares?" He scoffed at his indignant team mate. "What matters most is that this Pikachu displays outstanding potential! It is almost on par with the twerp's Pikachu, its electric attacks are astounding, and its display of power from earlier easily places it at the top percentage of Pikachu. Simply put, it will be the perfect prize, a fantastic find! Pokémon such as these are extremely rare and there are few out there who would be able to display such potential, such as me, Me-owth!" Meowth said proudly with a casual gaze at his own nails, only to look up and see Jessie and James yawning away. "Hey! Are you listening?!" The cat-like Pokémon jumped up, deeply offended, and his team mates cast him bored looks.

"Way to state the obvious, genius," Jessie deadpanned and James chuckled in the background.

"Mee-owth!" Meowth started in rage but Jessie cut him off rudely by slapping her palm into his face and knocking him backwards.

"Alright, enough with the crap," the woman snapped, ignoring the dagger-like glares her Pokémon companion shot her. "Let's get down to the nitty gritty. First of all, we've lost track of the twerps, and it might take ages before we can track them down again-"

"I wonder whose fault it was that caused this to happen." Meowth said snidely and received yet another punch on the head for doing so. "Meowth!"

"And here, we have a Pikachu whose powers are equal to that of the twerp's." Jessie continued, ignoring the snarls of anger directed towards her.

"Perhaps even more..." James added thoughtfully and Jessie's eyes beamed at the thought.

"Well then, I suggest we cease our efforts in pursuing the twerps' Pikachu for now," the woman said brightly, "and instead focus on capturing these fools' Pikachu instead!"

"But we've been after Pikachu for so long!" James protested. His argument, however, was dismissed uncaringly by Jessie.

"Well as they say, if you can't have Pikachu you want, want Pikachu you have!" Jessie replied in a sing-song manner and James frowned.

"That makes no sense!" He argued. "Ow! Hey!"

Meowth chuckled at the hurt look on James' face as he rubbed the painful spot on his forehead that Jessie had whacked. Oh the poor idiot was no match for Jessie alright!

"So now then, let's have a vote." Jessie exclaimed gleefully, ignoring her partner. "Who says to capture this Pikachu?"

"Aye!" Meowth cheered, raising his paw.

"Aye~" Jessie sang, raising her hand as well.

The two gazed at each other with a similar evil gleam in their eyes and grinned. "Operation Catch Pikachu, let's go!"

"Hey! I haven't voted yet!" James whined. No one cared.

XXX

"You're saying we should have another practice match?" Bruce stared at Tony in disbelief. After he was certain from the grin on the genius's face that he was  _not_  joking, the man glanced at the Mankey clinging around his neck and shook his head firmly. "No way, Tony, leave me and Mankey out of this one."

Tony gave a soft cynical snort. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Brucie. The one we want to train for now is Pikachu, not Mankey. No offense, but your Pokémon's typing would suck in a battle against Falkner."

Brruce couldn't help giving a sigh of relief at the answer. One crazy-Mankey experience in a day was more than enough for him, thank you very much.

Tony's gaze turned from Bruce to the rest of his team mates. "So, anyone volunteers to take one for the team?" He asked hopefully, but only getting stony looks in reply. "Oh come on!"

"Instead of pushing the task to  _us_ , why don't you take one for the team yourself, Stark?" Natasha retorted, eyes flashing dangerously. Tony shot her an unimpressed look.

"Does this  _thing_  seem about to listen to me in a battle anytime?" He asked sarcastically, pointing to his sulking Pawniard. Natasha gave an uncaring shrug.

"My heart bleeds for you." She smirked and Tony was offended enough by the jab to shoot back a retort. However, before he could do so, his Pawnaird gave a bloodcurdling growl and stepped towards Thor's Pikachu, who watched its advance warily.

"Paw!" The dark type Pokémon barked, giving Pikachu an aggressive poke in the chest with its sharp claw-like hand. "Pawniard!"

"Wait, it looks like... it wants to battle." Bruce said hesitantly as everyone stared at this strange display of hostility from Pawniard. Tony blinked in surprise.

"You want to battle?" He asked Pawniard, who gave another growl and a curt nod in reply. "With Thor's Pikachu?" Pawniard nodded again and Tony seemed stumped. "Well,  _okaaay_  then..."

Thor coughed nervously at this. "Are you sure this will be 'okay', my friend?" He asked, shooting the vicious little monster a cautious glance. After all, witnessing that creature in action against the Captain a few days ago had given the Thunder god sufficient reason to worry about pitting his precious Pikachu against it.

"Of course, Thor!" Tony laughed, quickly changing from his uncertain stance to a cheery one. "It'll be fun." He grinned. However, as soon as Thor nodded and left to the other side of the scorched plains to prepare for the battle, the genius immediately turned to his Pawniard and gave it a stern look.

"Look here," He said seriously, ignoring the defiant glare Pawniard shot him. "I don't know what's up in that tiny head of yours, but this is a friendly match kay? We need to help Pikachu gain experience."

Pawniard gave him a snort of contempt before heading out into the field with a swagger. Bruce beckoned Steve to join him at a far,  _safe_ distance away from the battle field, and the Captain was all too pleased to oblige. Having experienced the onslaught from Pawniard once before was enough for the man, and he certainly won't want to be at the receiving end of its attacks again, regardless of whether they are intended or accidental.

"Good luck, Stark." Natasha teased and Tony glared at the red-headed assassin and Clint, who was smirking annoyingly, as they walked over to join Steve and Bruce.

Looks like he's on his own now...

_Who needs them anyway?_

Tony cleared his throat confidently, and whipped out the Starkdex from his pocket. "J, you know what to do."

"Most certainly, Sir," Jarvis agreed and there was a beep before a list of Pawniard's attacks flashed on the screen. Tony's eyes swept through them once, and then he was ready to begin.

"Ready pal?" He called out to Thor, who grinned and nodded. Clint saw this as an opportunity to step up as referee.

"Alright, since you two assholes are ready," the archer hollered, much to the disapproval of Natasha. "Then let the battle begin!"

Tony grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Well, let's rumble."

"Pikachu, use Thundershock!" Thor bellowed from the other side of the field and Pikachu obeyed, unleashing a powerful jolt of electricity towards Pawniard. Pawniard hissed and dodged the attack swiftly, leaving Thor gaping at the agility of his opponent. Steve nodded at the sight. Yes, this was how fast he remembered Pawniard to be.

Tony took advantage of this slight pause in Thor to issue his order. "Pawniard, Fury cutter!"

Pawniard rushed towards Pikachu at an amazing speed, and swiped its claws ferociously at the yellow mouse. Pikachu dodged the blow hastily by leaping up into the air above the charging Pokémon, and Pawniard tumbled forward due to the force of its momentum. It rolled once and got back up onto its feet, turning around and watching Pikachu with an evil gleam in its eyes. Thor recovered from his daze immediately at the scene.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock again!" The god commanded and Pikachu readied itself before firing another electric blast at its foe. Pawniard snarled and used the reflective surface of its blades to deflect the electric attack. Thor hissed in frustration at how their attack was thwarted again while Tony gave a low whistle.

"Smart," the genius muttered, impressed by the move. Well, there had to be a reason why Pawniard's his Pokémon after all, he deduced reasonably. "Alright, Tiny, use your Faint Attack!" Tony continued and Pawniard gave Pikachu a sneer before rushing towards the mouse Pokémon at an almost lightning speed. It disappeared for a second, as though vanishing into the shadows and materialised the very next, lashing out at its opponent with its claw and striking its target.

Pikachu gave a yelp of pain as the blow threw it backwards, causing it to land painfully onto the ground.

"Straight on!" Tony grinned at the successful hit. However, Pawniard seemed far from satisfied. The dark type Pokémon rushed forward once more, ignoring the lack of orders from Tony and lashed out at Pikachu again. The electric mouse recovered sufficiently by that time to jump up and avoid the attack, but Pawniard persisted in its onslaught of blows. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Tony yelled but to no avail.

"Pikachu!" Thor cried out anxiously as Pikachu was slashed viciously once more by Pawniard, who seemed pleased with itself as it watched its foe tumble across the grass. "Tony Stark, this is not fun!" The god growled angrily and Tony flashed him a sheepish grin.

"Hey!" Tony hissed urgently to his Pawniard, who was now calm enough to stand there smirking down at Pikachu. "Friendly match! Remember, Rust Head?"

Pawniard stuck its tongue out at him.

_Really?!_

"Pikachu, use your Thundershock again!" Thor ordered furiously, taking advantage of the fact that Pawniard seemed distracted to try landing a hit. Pikachu got up shakily, a fiery look burning in its eyes and shot a shock of electricity towards Pawniard once more. This time the dark type Pokémon barely dodged the blow.

"Thor, use Pikachu's other attacks as well!" Bruce called out anxiously as he watched the ongoing battle.

"What?" Thor titled his head in confusion at the suggestion and Clint actually face palmed.

"Use Pikachu's Quick Attacks, Tackles and other attacks. Combine its moves with its electric shocks to land hits!" Bruce explained patiently, ignoring Clint's mutterings in the background about boring and repetitive battles. Thor nodded at the explanation and turned back to the battle once more.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!' The god exclaimed, and Pikachu's body stiffened before it hurtled headfirst towards Pawniard at a lightning speed. Pawniard hissed and jumped hastily out of the way, only managing to escape from the attack unscathed by a mere hair's width.

The battle continued on in a furious tirade of electric shocks and slashes, with both Pokémon moving at light speed and dodging their opponents' attacks agilely. Neither sides managed to score a hit for the next seven minutes and both Pokémon appeared to be wearing out soon. Clint, for his part, appeared to be getting bored again, and the annoying buzz from his Yanma wasn't soothing his nerves at all. It was then, that Thor suddenly spotted an opportunity to attack just as Pawniard dodged Pikachu's Quick Attack for the ninth time, leaping up into the air when Pikachu landed on the ground.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock!"Thor roared and Pikachu obeyed immediately, firing a ferocious shock of electricity at Pawniard. This time, being unable to dodge the shock midair, Pawniard was hit by the electric blow squarely in the chest. Everyone stared as the dark-type Pokémon froze in the air, surrounded by a bright glare of light for two seconds before plummeting down onto the ground with a groan.

"What? Is it over?" Clint asked after Pawniard laid unmoving on the ground for the next ten seconds. When the Pokémon did not seem about to get up any time soon, the archer gave a shrug. "Guess so then. The winner is Thor and Pikachu!"

Thor punched the air triumphantly and rushed towards Pikachu, who leapt into his arms with glee. As the two did their cheer and dance of celebration, Tony smiled and headed towards his Pawniard, who was sitting up by now and rubbing the back of its head in confusion.

"You alright?" The billionaire asked, a hint of concern in his voice as he gazed down at his Pokémon. Pawniard stood up shakily and shot the man what he deduced to be a scowl. Having interacted with the spunky metal Pokémon for the past few days, Tony couldn't say that he was at all surprised by the reply. "You did great out there." He continued, the side of his lips quirking upwards in an attempt at a compliment. When Pawniard didn't seem appreciative of the effort, however, Tony found it hard to continue controlling his snark. "Although there  _can_  be a couple of improvements."

"Amazing match guys," Bruce smiled as he walked towards them, his Mankey nodding enthusiastically in agreement. Steve followed closely behind, although his lips was pursed tightly in an attempt to appear disapproving of the battle.

Clint gave Thor a hearty slap on the back. "Congrats, Thunder boy!" The archer grinned and Thor chuckled appreciatively back. "Nice job whooping Tony's ass."

"Technically, it wasn't my ass that got kicked." Tony replied with an indignant pout, pointing surreptitiously at Pawniard, who scowled at the jab. "And it was supposed to be a friendly match." He added before giving Clint a glare. "Besides, what sort of lousy refereeing was that, Barton? I heard better from one year olds, and they could only babble."

Before Clint could shoot back a retort or even look offended, a loud explosion occurred metres away from where the Avengers stood and shrouded them in a nasty smelling smokescreen.

"What- what the hell?!" Tony coughed in shock as he and the others spluttered and tried to breathe through the smog. Torchic's panicked chirps echoed in the background, and with his eyes watering with pain and discomfort, Tony could barely make out a distinct shape of two people standing at a distance where the smoke was starting to clear.

"Prepare for trouble."

"And make it double."

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." Tony deadpanned as he continued staring at the two humanoid shapes.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"Is that-?" Bruce sputtered in disbelief as he joined Tony in staring at the now visible duo standing a distance from them. Tony, however, was too busy appearing incredulous to reply him.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meooooowth! That's right!"

"That cat talks!" Thor gaped at Meowth, who had agilely somersaulted to the front of Team Rocket. Steve, too, was staring at them with a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"Are they hostile?" the Captain asked hesitantly, but never got an answer as Clint interrupted him with a howl of laughter and slow claps.

"Oh my god, now  _that_ was fucking classic!" Hawkeye guffawed as he doubled over with tears of mirth in his eyes. Natasha rolled her eyes at both her partner, and the absurdity of the entire situation. "Hey one question though," Clint choked as struggled to contain his amusement. "I've always wondered, is that your natural hair colour?" He pointed to James, who seemed genuinely befuddled by the question.

"Wha-?" The man stuttered out of surprise, but before he could answer, was given an impatient shove by Jessie.

"Enough of this," the woman snapped, shooting the Avengers a nasty glare. "We don't have time to waste! We are here for Pikachu!" She declared and Steve stiffened up at her words. He may not know who the hell these strange people are, but from the sounds of this, they sure aren't friendly.

Tony gave an impatient little cough at this. "Hate to say this, but I think you got the wrong Pikachu." The billionaire retorted and pointed to Thor, who appeared completely dumbstruck by the situation. "Does he look like a cap crazy ten year old from Pallet Town to you?"

"Shut up you imbecile!" Jessie scoffed. Tony bristled at the insult. Imbecile? Him? He had a good mind to start a debate on who the  _real_  imbeciles were. "We know what we're doing-" She continued haughtily.

"Apparently not." Tony muttered to Bruce, who was trying his best to keep a straight face.

"-And we want that Pikachu!" Jessie declared, pointing to the alarmed Pikachu on Thor's shoulders.

"What?" Poor Thor seemed thoroughly confused. "But- but this Pikachu is mine."

"They're Pokémon thieves, Thor." Bruce said, shooting wary glances at Team Rocket. "They steal Pokémon."

"Thaaaat's right!" Meowth sang, flashing Thor an evil grin. "Now hand over that Pikachu."

Comprehension dawned upon Thor and the look of confusion on his face immediately changed into one of rage. "You want me to hand over Pikachu?!" He roared and the Mjolnir lying beside him flew into his hand. The Thunder god seemed about to hurl the hammer at the trio when Tony stopped him hurriedly.

"Whoa whoa hold it big guy! No Meow-meow, remember?  _Ordinary trainers_?" Tony reminded him hastily and Thor turned his glare onto Tony.

"But they wish to steal Pikachu!" He protested angrily and Tony flashed him another bright grin.

"Yeah, and we'll fight back, as trainers." The billionaire smirked. "Time to test your battle skills, don't you think? You can use your hammer when things get nasty." He added, casting a glance at the Mjolnir and Thor's firm grip on his weapon loosened at his words. He gave Tony a long reluctant stare before nodding and dropping the Mjolnir back onto the ground with a loud thud. The Thunder god then turned back to face Team Rocket with a frown, glaring at the ones who would dare to steal his precious Pokémon.

"That's right!" Jessie sneered. "Put down your toy hammer and let's handle this like adults!" The woman plucked a Pokéball from her waist belt and hurled it towards the centre of the field between them. "Arbok, get that Pikachu!"

"Weezing, go!" James followed suit.

Arbok and Weezing burst out from their Pokéballs and snarled at the Avengers and their Pokémon aggressively.

"Cha-Bak-Kap!"

"Wee-ezing!"

"Arbok and Weezing again huh?" Tony's brows furrowed at the sight of the two Pokémon. But weren't those two released a long time ago?

Thor, not knowing these tiny details, paid no heed to them at all.

"Pikachu, time for battle!" He bellowed and Pikachu leapt off his shoulder smartly into the battlefield, eliciting sparks of electricity from its cheeks as it did so.

"Is it alright to let him battle alone?" Steve asked anxiously but Tony shushed him.

"Just watch the battle Cap, we'll help when needed. You just keep an eye on your Riley."

Steve scowled at the man's casual remarks, but otherwise made no other argument. Instead, he simply brought his Ralts closer towards him defensively. He wouldn't want to risk her safety in the presence of these thieves!

"Arbok, wrap around Pikachu and grab it!" Jessie hollered.

"Weezing, use your Sludge attack!" James drawled.

Arbok hurtled towards Pikachu in an attempt to coil around it, but failed as Pikachu leapt swiftly out of the way. Weezing spat out globs of black sludge, which Pikachu managed to dodge swiftly and agilely. It blocked the last by countering it with a jolt of electricity.

Thor took this in grimly. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack on the snake!" He ordered and Pikachu turned around just in time to see Arbok pouncing at it once more. The yellow mouse recoiled a little and pushed off from the ground, using the force to propel itself straight into Arbok's neck, causing a pained hiss to escape from the snake Pokémon as it crashed back onto the grass.

"Weezing, use your Smokescreen!" James yelled hastily, seeing his comrade in trouble and Weezing opened its mouth, spewing out volumes of thick, horrendous smelling gas.

"Pikachu!" Thor and the other Avengers coughed as they tried to wave away the smog to get a view of the battlefield, but it seemed near impossible to do so for the next few seconds.

"Arbok! Wrap attack!"

"Pika!" The cry from his Pokémon jolted Thor out of his confusion. With a furious roar, the god grabbed the Mjolnir and swirled it in the air, causing a powerful gust of wind to blow away the smoke. Soon, the smog cleared enough for the Avengers to spot Pikachu being coiled around tightly by Arbok, its eyes closed in pain.

"What's this wind?!" Team Rocket spluttered as they struggled to keep themselves firmly footed on the ground.

"Meeoowth! I don't like this!" Meowth cried as he flew up and smacked into James' face.

"Eyy! Getoff!" The man's words were smothered as he tried to pry the Pokémon off.

Bruce, seeing the trouble his team mate's Pokémon was in, decided that it was about time to step in. "Alright, Mankey, help Pikachu out with your Karate Chop." The man ordered, his eyes glinting in a dangerous green. Mankey nodded with a loud screech and leapt towards Arbok, landing a vicious strike straight at its head. Arbok cried out in pain and its grip on Pikachu loosened, allowing the electric mouse to squirm out and escape in a hurry.

"Pikachu use your Thundershock!" Thor bellowed and Pikachu fired a blast of electricity, hitting Weezing just as it was about to tackle Mankey from behind. Tony watched the battle in awe, and turned to his Pawniard who was scowling by the side.

"Hey, I know you don't like them," he said, nodding towards Pikachu and Mankey, who have simultaneously just dodged a flurry of poison stings. "Hell, you don't like anyone! But how about helping out this time?" He suggested coaxingly. Pawniard gave him a glare before huffing and turning away. "Come on," Tony grinned at the feigned reluctance of his Pokémon. The Tin Can was obviously itching for a battle. "I'll let you sleep on the suit today if you do." He added the incentive with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Well that seemed to have caught Pawniard's attention. The dark type Pokémon froze for a moment before turning back to Tony with a stunned look. Then its face broke out into a grin.

"Pawniard!" With a nod, Pawniard leapt out into the battle field and charged at Weezing, who was now firing bullets of sludge at the dodging Mankey. With a ferocious strike of its claw, it sent Weezing hurtling backwards with a pained cry straight at Arbok, who had was engaged in a furious battle with Pikachu. Weezing slammed into Arbok with a loud crash, and the two Pokémon were sent flying backwards from the force of the collision into Team Rocket, who squealed and flailed about uselessly for a second before being knocked over by their Pokémon.

Tony slapped Thor's shoulder good-naturedly. "You're welcome pal," He grinned. "And now's a good time to use Pikachu's Thundershock."

Thor nodded with an equally wide smirk. "Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pikaaaaa-" Pikachu clenched its paws in concentration for the attack. "-CHUUU!" A massive surge of electricity fired from the electric mouse's body and struck Team Rocket, causing them to twitch and scream in pain before a loud explosion occurred.

"No fair!" Jessie cried as she, James, Meowth and their Pokémon flew up into the air. "Why do we always lose?!"

"Who knows?" James deadpanned. "But it looks as though-"

"Team Rocket is blasting off AGAIN!"

Tony shielded his eyes from the bright glare of the sun as he watched Team Rocket vanish to no more than a bright speck in the sky. "Well that was fun." He smirked. "And I guess this brings us near to the end of  _this_ episode eh? Where's the narrator's inspirational concluding lines?"

Bruce chuckled at the joke while Thor frowned in confusion at what his friend had said. "My friend, I do not understand." The god gave Tony a questioning look, but the billionaire merely dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand.

"Doesn't matter Goldilocks," Tony laughed, and swung his arms across Thor and Bruce's shoulders. "Amazing team work guys! Great battle! With no thanks to you three." He pointed out flatly to Clint, Natasha and Steve, who were still standing idly by the side. Clint scoffed at them while Natasha seemed as though she couldn't care less. Steve however, wore an expression both of awe at the battle he had witnessed, and guilt at having let his team mates fight by themselves. Tony was quick to notice this.

"Pokémon battling doesn't seem quite as barbaric now, eh, Cappie? Not when it's for self-defence? " He teased and Steve blushed. He was quick to rearrange his expression back into a stern look though.

"That still doesn't mean that I approve of it." The Captain replied stubbornly, but Tony took no offence at the answer. He merely smirked and wagged his finger annoyingly at the man.

"Your time will come, Cappie, there's no escaping it," Tony grinned at the affronted look on Steve's face. "We'll turn you to the dark side, you can be sure of that alright!" Beside him, Pawniard gave a bark of sinister laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! I'm back, after so long! :D I must say I enjoyed this chapter, it was great fun to write, and I sure hope the battle scenes were done well enough. Team Rocket is a joy, to be sure, and the Avengers will soon find them a pain in the ass for the whole journey! :D
> 
> Thor is getting the hang of battling, so is Tony and Bruce. Natasha and Clint will get their chances soon enough, and Steve will warm up to the idea. Heh, as Tony said, they will turn him to the dark side! ;P
> 
> No Loki this chapter though, I'm sure he's having lots of fun with Zorua! Haha!  
> Next Chapter:
> 
> Thor's rematch at the Violet City gym!
> 
> Stay tuned! ;)


End file.
